British athletics coach Leon Baptiste, reported missing for over two months, jailed in Morocco for assaulting a minor

British athletics coach Leon Baptiste, who was reported missing for more than two months after traveling to Morocco, “is serving a prison sentence in Marrakech for sexually assaulting a minor,” according to BBC Sport.

Citing a source from the Moroccan Ministry of Justice, BBC Sport reported that the 41-year-old athlete was arrested in Marrakech in May and was later convicted. He is now serving his sentence at Al Oudaya Prison.

It added that Baptiste is in good health and was convicted by “the competent judicial authorities in connection with a misdemeanor case.”

The report said Baptiste was initially sentenced to 10 months in prison before the sentence was reduced to eight months on appeal.

The comments come after the Guardian reported earlier this week that Baptiste had traveled to Morocco with some close friends for what was believed to be a stag do or golf trip but had not been heard from since, with messages sent to his phone reportedly going unanswered.

“Information published in this regard is inaccurate and doesn’t reflect the facts of the case,” said the source from the Moroccan Ministry of Justice, emphasizing that Baptiste “had not lost contact with his surroundings and was not subject to any disappearance or unexplained absence.”

BBC Sport reported that Baptiste’s family are understood to know about his imprisonment.

A UK Foreign Office spokesperson told BBC Sport that “it is supporting a British national who is detained in Morocco and is in contact with the authorities.”

Baptiste coaches several top British athletes, including Paris Olympic 4x400m relay bronze medalist Charlie Dobson, and also works as a Loughborough-based consultant with UKA.

The Guardian reported that his absence has affected the athletes he works with, particularly Dobson, who had been dealing with injuries and difficulties during the European Championships in Birmingham earlier last week.