Woodinville Little League Backs Leader Who Assaulted Son

WOODINVILLE - Less than a year after seeing a former Little League president convicted of murdering his wife, the youth-baseball organization in this quiet suburban community finds itself dealing with family violence once again.

The new president of the Woodinville West Little League was convicted by a judge last spring of assaulting his 12-year-old son with a belt. He was also accused by his wife of beating her in the past, although he was not charged.

But board members gave Bob Blevins, elected to his post Sept. 14, a unanimous vote of confidence at a special meeting last Wednesday. Blevins, with his wife at his side, gave his version of the assault on his son, and the board was satisfied.

"We consider this a private family matter," said Connie Ellis, league vice president.

Family-violence experts disagreed, and said they were worried about the message the league's board would send by looking the other way.

And an official with Little League's national headquarters said that group would probably act if the local group did not.

Joe Losch, vice president of operations of Little League International Inc. in Williamsport, Pa., said he was concerned with the inaction of the local board. "That's a given, almost, that anyone with a criminal record wouldn't be involved with Little League," Losch said.

The conviction came anonymously to the attention of the board, which oversees a program for more than 900 players. It was previously under the direction of Alan Dorenbos, now serving a 14-year prison term for bludgeoning his wife to death with a power grinder in the couple's garage.

Board members said they were not interested in checking "rumors" about Blevins and didn't investigate beyond their interview with him and his wife, saying they didn't need to look at police records or court files to know what happened.

Ellis said Blevins had coached her son last year, and she and other board members felt comfortable with him as a coach and league president.

Blevins said the assault was "a spanking situation." He criticized those complaining about him for not coming forward publicly and said he was the subject of a "witchhunt."

"We have people with quirks in the league," Blevins said. "Recovering alcoholics, people who are divorced . . . I don't feel I'm an ogre."

Mother found bruises

According to Northeast District Court records, Blevins, 36, the owner of a video store, was questioned by police several days after the November 1992 beating, when his wife, Jeanne, who had been away, returned home, saw bruises on her son's body and called authorities.

According to police reports, the boy said his father had made him disrobe and whipped him on the buttocks with a belt because he had lied about hitting his sister. The boy said usually his father demanded push-ups for discipline but had hit him in the face, kicked him and thrown him around the room before.

Jeanne Blevins told police that "she is normally the brunt of Bob's anger," according to police reports, saying that he'd hit her with his fists and blackened her eyes at an unspecified time in the past. Since then, she told police, Blevins had "tried to keep violence away from her face."

Blevins told police that he'd acted appropriately in whipping his son and that he was only being questioned by them because his wife was wreaking revenge after an argument.

In February, Blevins was charged with fourth-degree assault. He waived his right to a trial, opting for judicial review and a deferred sentence.

On June 11, Judge Rosemary Bordlemay found him guilty based on facts in the police report and ordered Blevins to probation for 24 months. During that time, he must continue going to counseling, perform community service, commit no further law violations and refrain from all physical punishment of children.

If he follows those conditions, at the end of the two years the case will be dismissed. If he doesn't, according to an arrangement which is commonly used in first-time family-violence crimes, a more severe sentence could be imposed, the maximum being a year in jail and a $5,000 fine.

`It was none of our business'

At last week's meeting, Blevins was not asked about his wife's statement to police that he had assaulted her.

"We are aware there have been other problems, but we didn't ask them to go into detail because we felt it was none of our business," Ellis said. "That's a personal thing. What you do with your wife has nothing to do with Little League."

Former board member Bob Riemath agreed. "I guess the question is, is any of this putting the kids or the program at risk?" he said. "I think that's the only question anyone has any business in asking."

Gary Newsome, Little League district administrator for North Seattle and Woodinville, agreed with the board's decision. He said that since the judge didn't put Blevins in jail, the incident was "something the court didn't feel was all that terrible."

Family-violence experts, while recognizing the difficulty in confronting such a situation, criticized the Woodinville board for its inaction.

"What's the message to the kids?" asks Daryl Buckendahl, director of Family Services, the county's largest domestic-violence-treatment program.

"A coach is a pretty significant role model for kids. What does it say when they hear, `Yeah, he knocks his kid around, he beats his wife up, but it's OK.'

"When it's talked about and there are no consequences for the behavior, that gives people the go-ahead. Particularly with boys, it says you can do anything you want to get power."