Former St. Michael's softball coach accused of sexual relationship with student

BALDWIN COUNTY, Ala. (WALA– The 60-year-old former head softball coach at St. Michael Catholic High School remains in jail today, accused of being a school employee who engaged in a sex act or deviant sex with a student, according to officials and jail records.

Leonard Anthony Rizzuto, of Daphne, was arrested Wednesday and is being held in the Baldwin County Jail in lieu of $15,000 bail, records show. According to the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office, Rizzuto was released as head softball coach for St. Michael after the 2021 season.

The BCSO reports that it began investigating Rizzuto in April of this year after an allegation of a sexual relationship between Rizzuto and a 16-year-old student at St. Michael during the 2020-2021 school year while he was head softball coach. . Some of the alleged acts took place at an off-campus exercise center and at his private home in Daphne, according to a news release from the sheriff’s office.

No other victims have been identified, the BCSO said. The press release states that this case was presented to a Baldwin County Grand Jury, which indicted Rizzuto, leading to his arrest.