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An English athletics coach and former gold medallist said by media reports to be missing is serving a prison sentence in Morocco for sexually assaulting a minor, BBC Sport can reveal.<\/b><\/p>\n
Leon Baptiste, who was coaching a clutch of top British track athletes in the run-up to this summer’s Commonwealth Games and European Championships, suddenly went off the grid more than three months ago.<\/p>\n
Neither UK Athletics, for whom he worked as a consultant sprinting coach, nor the sprinters he coached knew why he was out of contact.<\/p>\n
In May, Baptiste sent the group of athletes he coached a short message saying he would be absent from training “for a while”. They have been given no further explanation.<\/p>\n
Over the weekend, he was reported in the media as being “missing” and was said to have disappeared in Morocco.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, a brief email was sent to the people coached on behalf of Baptiste – the 200m gold medallist at the 2010 Commonwealth Games – in which he resigned from the position, citing unspecified ill health.<\/p>\n
A source at the Moroccan Ministry of Justice confirmed to BBC Sport that Baptiste was arrested in Marrakech in May, has subsequently been convicted and is now serving a custodial sentence in Al-Oudaya prison.<\/p>\n
Baptiste was originally sentenced to 10 months in prison, later reduced to eight months on appeal.<\/p>\n
“In relation to the reports concerning the alleged ‘disappearance of Leon Baptiste’ – an English athletics coach reportedly missing in Morocco for more than two months under questionable circumstances – please note that the information published in this regard is inaccurate and does not reflect the facts of the case,” said the source.<\/p>\n
“The foreign national concerned had not lost contact with his surroundings and was not subject to any disappearance or unexplained absence.<\/p>\n
“He is currently being held at the local prison in Marrakech, where he is serving a custodial sentence following his conviction by the competent judicial authorities in connection with a misdemeanour case.”<\/p>\n
They added Baptiste, 41, was “in good health”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n