PHILADELPHIA, PA — A former youth baseball coach from Arizona was sentenced to 27½ years in federal prison for participating in an online child sexual exploitation conspiracy that targeted students at a Philadelphia private school and later boys who played in the Little League World Series.
Donald Michael, 49, of Queen Creek, Arizona, also known online as “Baseball Fun,” received 15 years of supervised release and was ordered to pay $137,933 in restitution to victims, according to U.S. Attorney David Metcalf.
U.S. District Judge Mark A. Kearney imposed the sentence this week. Michael must also register as a sex offender under federal and applicable state laws.
Michael pleaded guilty in April 2025 to five federal charges, including conspiracy to produce child sexual abuse material, conspiracy to receive and distribute the material, distribution and attempted distribution, and two counts of receipt.
The convictions stemmed from an online exploitation operation lasting more than 18 months that involved Andrew Wolf, a former teacher at Springside Chestnut Hill Academy in Philadelphia, and Kray Strange of Carthage, New York.
Wolf and Strange were previously convicted and sentenced for their roles in the conspiracy.
According to federal prosecutors, the three men used fabricated online identities to impersonate teenage girls and establish relationships with boys who were current or former students of Wolf at Springside Chestnut Hill Academy.
The conspirators engaged the minors in sexually explicit conversations and distributed child sexual abuse material to pressure them into producing and transmitting explicit images of themselves.
When victims resisted or attempted to end the interactions, the defendants used threats, blackmail and extortion to coerce further participation, according to court filings.
The scheme continued after Wolf and Strange were arrested and incarcerated.
Prosecutors established that Michael subsequently targeted additional boys who had participated in the Little League World Series, extending the exploitation beyond the original group of Philadelphia-area students.
Michael had coached boys’ baseball for more than two decades, a background that placed him in youth sports before his involvement in the online exploitation conspiracy.
The case illustrates how offenders used false online identities and threats to obtain sexual images from minors, including children with connections to schools and organized youth athletics.
“Cloaked in the anonymity that the internet provided them, Michael and his co-conspirators manipulated young boys into taking and sending explicit images of themselves,” Metcalf said.
The prosecution followed a July 2024 federal indictment charging Michael with five offenses related to the production, receipt and distribution of child sexual abuse material.
His guilty plea resolved all five charges without a trial.
FBI Philadelphia Special Agent in Charge Wayne A. Jacobs described the exploitation and extortion of children as a continuing priority for federal investigators.
The FBI investigated the case, which was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kelly Harrell and Michelle Rotella.
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