A baseball coach at Packer Collegiate Institute, a Brooklyn private school, is accused of grooming and sexually abusing seven young players on a travel team he ran, prosecutors said Thursday.
Nicolas Morton, 31, worked as the head coach at the $60,000-a-year tuition Brooklyn Heights school, and he used that position to target the 12-to-14-year-old boys on his travel team, prosecutors in Brooklyn allege.
He made the boys show him their genitals, and groped several of them until the young victims came forward earlier this year, prosecutors said.
Morton was hit with a 20-count indictment in Brooklyn Supreme Court Thursday, on charges of course of sexual conduct against a child, sexual abuse, child endangerment, forcible touching and unlawful imprisonment. He pleaded not guilty Thursday, and Judge Donald Leo released him on $150,000 bond.
Morton “abused his position of power to abuse seven young players on his baseball team,” Assistant D.A. Gwen Barnes said. “He groomed them by speaking to them about sex, about masturbation and about other graphic topics.”
Morton’s alleged abuse occurred from the beginning of 2023 through the summer of 2024 during practices in Packer’s gym and at several Brooklyn ball fields, prosecutors alleged.
At first, he’d joke about the team members showing him their pubic hair, but those jokes became demands, both in one-on-one sessions and in a group, Barnes said.
He threatened to cut the youngsters from the team if they didn’t show him their pubic hair or penises, and at times, he’d force them into grueling practice regimens. If they couldn’t complete the practices, he wouldn’t let them leave unless they showed their genitals, Barnes said.
Three of the seven boys accused Morton of touching their genitals or buttocks over their clothing, and one victim said Morton touched him under his clothes, Barnes said.
Rumors started circulating in July, according to prosecutors, and the school sacked Morton in August.
Morton graduated from Packer in 2012, and was a standout member of the school’s varsity baseball team. He also worked for the school as an assistant director of admissions for several years.
Packer representatives did not return a message seeking comment Thursday.
Morton’s lawyer, Robert Georges, stressed that his client wasn’t a flight risk, pointing to the rows of family members who showed up to support him in the courtroom, including his wife of more than 10 years, and noted he comes from a “strong law enforcement family.”
Regarding the allegations, Georges said, “He’s known about them. He’s been terminated from Packer … I don’t believe any bail is necessary.”