Overview
- Moroccan Ministry of Justice and the Public Prosecution Office told BBC Sport that Baptiste was arrested in Marrakech in May and is serving a reported 10-month custodial sentence at Al-Oudaya prison after a conviction for sexual assault of a minor.
- Officials rejected recent press accounts that he was ‘missing,’ saying he had not been subject to an unexplained disappearance and that his detention and conviction were known to authorities.
- BBC Sport investigators located online court records and then obtained confirmation from Moroccan judicial sources, which prompted the correction of earlier media reports about his whereabouts.
- Baptiste had told the athletes he coached in May that he would be absent ‘for a while,’ then later sent a brief resignation email citing ill health, leaving several British sprinters without their designated coach during key pre-championship preparation.
- The UK Foreign Office says it is supporting a detained British national and in contact with Moroccan authorities, while limited public disclosure from Morocco’s judicial system and the disruption to athletes’ training are likely to prompt questions for UK Athletics and the athletes involved.