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	Grieving Parents Sue Son's Coach By Mark Mueller Star-Ledger August 13, 2008 http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-11/1218602219192550.xml&coll=1 Man now faces civil suit along with 11 child endangerment counts The parents of a Monmouth County teenager killed by an NJ Transit train in June filed suit yesterday against the former baseball coach at St. Rose High School in Belmar, contending the man's alleged abuse of their son led him to consider suicide. The suit, filed on behalf of Jackie and Drew Clark in Superior Court in Freehold, also names as a defendant St. Rose, where Bart McInerney served as head baseball coach for 13 years. McInerney, 42, was charged in November with two counts of endangering the welfare of a child for allegedly engaging in inappropriate sexual conversations with players. Authorities said McInerney pressed the teens to masturbate and demanded they send him details of the acts in text messages. Andrew Clark Jr., 18, was among the first players to speak to investigators. Last month, authorities said nine more former players had come forward, bringing the total number of criminal counts to 11. The coach, a resident of Spring Lake Heights, is free on $200,000 bail. He has pleaded not guilty. The suit filed contends McInerney "tormented and harassed" Clark, a former St. Rose student. The alleged abuse occurred during both the school year and the summer of 2007, when the teen accompanied McInerney and other St. Rose players to a baseball tournament in Anchorage, Alaska, the lawsuit said. Andrew, the subject of a lengthy story in the Sunday Star-Ledger three days ago, was killed by an NJ Transit train June 20 in Spring Lake. His parents and friends contend abuse caused the teen to suffer occasional bouts of depression. It was during one of those spells when he walked to the Wall Road railroad crossing, not far from his home in Spring Lake Heights. "This is a classic model of someone who is betrayed, someone who is bewildered and someone who drops into a deep depression because this man has such a degree of power over very young children," said Raymond Gill, the lawyer representing Clark's parents. Though the Clarks and Andrew's friends blame McInerney for leading the teen to the tracks that night, they also contend his death was an accident, noting Andrew had called a friend for help and promised to wait for him. The teen was next to the tracks, not on them, when the train passed by at 60 mph. He was sideswiped. The medical examiner has yet to rule on the death. The lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages against McInerney, a well-known and highly respected coach who guided St. Rose to a state title in 2005 and ran a number of other recreational leagues in the area. The suit seeks to compel St. Rose to turn over its files on the coach, including documents on screening and monitoring procedures. Gill said he is not immediately seeking damages against the high school. Depending on what the documents show, Gill said, the complaint could be amended to seek damages against St. Rose and the Diocese of Trenton. McInerney's lawyer, Charles Uliano, declined to comment yesterday, saying he had not seen the suit. Rayanne Bennett, a spokeswoman for the Diocese of Trenton, said she, too, had not seen the suit and could not comment. Mark Mueller may be reached at mmueller@starledger.com or (973) 392-5973.
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