Man Expresses ‘Profound Sorrow’ to Little Leaguers for ‘Thievery’

A Laguna Hills father has issued an open letter to Mission Hills Little League players, telling them that he has “profound sorrow” for embezzling league money.

In the letter, Robert Michael Norman confessed to “thievery” while acting as treasurer of the league. According to Norman’s lawyer, Julian Bailey, Norman took about $26,000 from the league treasury and plans to plead guilty in Orange County Superior Court on May 7. Norman has been charged on one count of grand theft and one count of embezzlement. He is currently free on bail.

Norman’s open letter is addressed to “the children of Mission Hills Little League.”

The letter says: “I am writing this letter to express my profound sorrow for my deception and thievery while enjoying your trust as a member of your Little League. I have done a great disservice to this community, my family, and my friends--many people have been affected by actions--but none as much as you, the children. Many of you do not understand what happened, but all of you know the difference between right and wrong.

“I apologize to you for what I have done, and I promise that I will make full restitution, both financially and morally, for I took more than money, I also took trust.”

Bailey said Norman, 46, sent the letter to local newspapers in an effort to reach the 867 children enrolled in the Mission Hills Little League. “I discouraged him from doing this, but he said he wanted to express to the children his feelings,” Bailey said.

Norman has two young sons, and he was the manager of the Little League team on which one son played.

At the time the money was taken, Norman was having “severe financial difficulties” and his marriage was collapsing, according to Bailey. Norman, a stockbroker, lost his job when his employer went out of business, Bailey said. “He had gone from a stockbroker with a very substantial income to no money at all,” Bailey said.

Norman has returned about $1,500 to the Little League and plans to make full restitution, Bailey added.

“We’ll not have a trial,” Bailey said. “We’re working out the terms of a guilty plea.”

Cheryl Edwards, president of the 65-team Mission Hills Little League, said Tuesday that the league’s attorney had advised parents not to comment on the case.