BBC Sport has revealed that English athletics coach Leon Baptiste, whose disappearance was recently reported by British media, is imprisoned in Morocco after being convicted of sexually assaulting a minor.
Baptiste, 41, was working as a consultant speed coach for British Athletics, overseeing the training of several of Britain's top sprinters in preparation for the Commonwealth Games and European Championships this summer.
Baptiste disappeared from public view more than three months ago, after sending a short message in May to the group of athletes he coaches, informing them that he would be absent from training "for a while," without providing any further explanation.
In recent days, media reports indicated that he had become "missing" and disappeared in Morocco, before someone on his behalf sent an email to athletes last Tuesday announcing his resignation from his position, citing unspecified health reasons.
But a source in the Moroccan Ministry of Justice confirmed that Baptiste was arrested in Marrakech in May, then tried and convicted, and is currently serving a prison sentence in one of the city's prisons.
According to the source, Baptiste was initially sentenced to 10 months in prison, before the sentence was reduced to 8 months after an appeal.
The Moroccan public prosecutor's office confirmed the nature of the ruling, explaining that the British citizen is being held in a local prison in Marrakech and is serving a sentence in connection with a criminal case on charges of assaulting a minor.
Baptiste had achieved great fame as a player, after winning two gold medals at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, in the 200-meter race and the 4x100-meter relay race, before retiring from competition at the age of 28 due to knee problems.
