PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer
By Joseph A. Slobodzian
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
The former baseball coach of the alleged victim of a sexual assault by the Rev. James J. Brennan told a Philadelphia jury today that he once saw Brennan massaging the preteen boy’s back during a postgame house party in about 1990.
Robert T. Kane testified that the boy – the son of one of his assistant coaches – had been playing with friends outside and returned inside sweaty and wearing no shirt.
As the boy sat at a table, Kane said, Brennan approached from behind and began massaging the boy’s bare shoulders.
The image stuck in his head, Kane told the Common Pleas Court jury under questioning by Assistant District Attorney Jacqueline Coelho.
“It was kind of like looking at a black-and-white picture and seeing someone wearing a yellow hat,” Kane testified. “I just seemed odd to me.”
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