JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) – Former Boston Red Sox pitcher Austin Maddox was arrested in Florida in connection with a sex case involving minors, authorities announced Monday.
Maddox was one of 27 people arrested in a multi-agency operation late last month, Jacksonville Sheriff TK Waters said. They are accused of soliciting sex over the Internet from people they believed to be children, officials said.
James Hill, a defense attorney for Maddox, said he intends to fight the allegations against him and will plead not guilty if formal charges are filed.
Maddox, 33, began communicating with an undercover agent posing as a minor on April 28, according to an arrest report. He expressed his intention to have sex with the girl even after she told him she was 14, officials said.
Maddox agreed to meet the girl at a prearranged location, where he was arrested by law enforcement, authorities said.
He is charged with four counts, including traveling to a meeting after using a computer to solicit a child. He is being held on $300,000 bail.
Maddox played college ball for the University of Florida and was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in 2012. He made his major league debut with the team in 2017 after several years in the minors. He spent about three months on the Red Sox roster before returning to the minors to recover from shoulder injuries. He was released from the team in 2019.
