Youth baseball coach arrested in Warwick for allegedly soliciting a child

Lieutenant Colonel Kevin M. Barry, Acting Superintendent of the Rhode Island State Police and Acting Director of the Rhode Island Department of Public Safety, has announced the arrest of a Connecticut youth baseball coach who allegedly used the internet to solicit a 14-year-old boy to engage in sexual activity at a Warwick hotel.

Christopher Merchant, 33, of 259 Water St., Canterbury, CT, was charged with:

Indecent Solicitation of a Child (two counts)
Electronically Disseminating Indecent Material to a Minor (three counts)
Possession of Child Pornography.

Merchant is a vice president and coach with the Plainfield Little League in Plainfield, CT. At this time, there is no evidence of any involvement with members of the Plainfield Little League.

The arrest stemmed from an investigation by members of the Rhode Island Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force. During the month of January 2019, an individual later identified as Merchant, engaged in a series of communications with a person he believed to be a 14-year-old male. The conversation quickly became sexually explicit and he allegedly disseminated indecent material and solicited a person whom he believed to be a 14-year-old male to engage in sexual activity at a Warwick hotel.

As a result of the investigation, members of the ICAC Task Force obtained a warrant for his arrest.

On January 25, 2019, ICAC Task Force members arrested Mr. Merchant at the Warwick hotel. During the arrest, ICAC Task Force members located child pornography on Mr. Merchant’s cell phone.

Merchant was charged with two counts of indecent Solicitation of a Child; three counts of Electronically Disseminating Indecent Material to a Minor; and Possession of Child Pornography. He was ordered held at the Adult Correctional Institutions on $100,000 surety bail pending arraignment in District Court on Monday.