Registered Sex Offender Tried to Coach T-Ball

Anthony Littleton Cannon, 30, is a registered sex offender in Gulfport, Mississippi. This spring, he volunteered to help coach a T-ball team of children, ages 4 to 6 years old. Cannon is registered in accordance with the law, but failed to give written notice to the organization.

Cannon’s step-son plays on the team and someone at the ball park recognized him as a registered sex offender on opening day, March 29th. Cannon had volunteered to help coach the Yankees, a team within the Gulfport Youth Sports Association.

The association President, Ricky Dombrowski, logged onto the sex offender website and located Cannon after he had been made aware. He said, “…there he was. If we had known about his conviction, we wouldn’t have allowed him to volunteer.”

This experience has prompted the association to now require criminal background checks on all coaches, assistants and volunteers and will charge a $6 fee for doing so.

Cannon was convicted on three counts of sexual assault involving a teenage girl when he was 20-years-old. This occurred in Denton County, Texas in 1998. State law does require registered sex offenders who want to do volunteer work to notify the organization in writing.

Sheriff Melvin Brisolara and Dombrowski said they have no reason to believe Cannon had any inappropriate contact with the children. Dombrowski said, “Had we known, I think we would have allowed him to come to the park to watch (the child) play, but we would not have allowed him to be involved with anything else.”

Cannon was arrested for failing to give written notice of his previous charges on April 16, 2008, and he was held at the Harrison County jail on a $25,000 bond.