Scyphers Acted Within the Law : Baseball: Suspended Simi Valley High coach will not be prosecuted.

Suspended high school baseball Coach Mike Scyphers broke no laws and will not be prosecuted for allegations that he mishandled his team’s money and discipline, the Ventura County District Attorney’s office said Wednesday.

“There were numerous allegations involving alleged criminal conduct regarding the coach, but most were found to be unfounded,” Ventura County Deputy Dist. Atty. Donald M. Grant said.

There was no evidence that Scyphers, who brought the Simi Valley baseball program to national prominence during his 16 years as coach, broke California law by allowing players to paddle other players for violating team rules, Grant said. Scyphers’ handling of a $700 field rental fee was found not to be illegal, either.

Scyphers said Wednesday he is glad to be exonerated, but is bitter because the criminal probe besmirched his reputation and the suspension cut short his coaching season. He also said he has had difficulty sleeping and has lost 15 pounds since the suspension.

“I can’t get my reputation back,” Scyphers said. “I can’t get those seven games back. It’s the old guilty-until-proven-innocent.”

Scyphers, 41, was suspended from coaching May 3 after the police began an investigation into the alleged financial and disciplinary improprieties.

“It just goes to show how a person . . . can accuse somebody and turn his life and his family’s upside down for a month,” he said. “There’s something wrong with that, how a person can be stopped from doing what he loves while there’s an investigation.”

Another investigation of Scyphers continues within the Simi Valley Unified School District, however, and officials still could decide against renewing Scyphers’ annual coaching contract, said Doug Crosse, a member of the district school board.

The board can lift his administrative leave from coaching, Crosse said, but Scyphers still must be rehired next fall by Simi Valley High Principal Kathryn Scroggin. Scyphers is a full-time teacher at the school.

“I certainly respect the district attorney’s investigation, and it’s good news that there have been no improprieties to the extent that there would be an arrest or criminal prosecution,” Crosse said.

Scroggin declined to comment on the decision not to prosecute.

Simi Valley police Lt. Mark Layhew said the case “was submitted for review, with no recommendation for filing or rejection.”

Schools superintendent Mary Beth Wolford declined to comment on the prosecutor’s decision.

“We still have an internal personnel matter, and we are waiting for the report from the district attorney’s office,” Wolford said. “We want to finish our investigation. It’s really not appropriate for me to discuss any discipline at this time.”

Wolford plans to meet Friday morning with the players’ parents, who have supported Scyphers.

On Wednesday, some of them blasted the school district for sending the popular coach through such a public and fruitless criminal probe.

“It was clear from the little information that was shared with us that there was nothing of a criminal nature,” said Maureen Celusta, mother of senior pitcher Nathan Celusta. “I blame the school administration absolutely in total for ruining my son’s senior year baseball experience.”

Grant, the prosecutor, said he reviewed numerous allegations against Scyphers, but found only two worth considering for criminal charges. Ultimately, he rejected both.

The paddling of players that Scyphers allowed in a practice ritual known as “the block” might violate state educational codes forbidding corporal punishment, but it is not against the law, Grant said.

“It didn’t violate simple battery laws because the striking was done with the consent of the students,” Grant said. Nor did the paddling violate other assault laws, he said, because it produced no unjustifiable pain or mental suffering and was not cruel or inhuman punishment.

Grant also said Scyphers might have acted improperly by cashing a $700 check for a field rental fee from the National Adult Baseball Assn. and distributing it to his assistant coaches. But there was no evidence Scyphers profited from it in any way, Grant said.

The distribution of money to assistant coaches without school knowledge violates Southern Section rules.

There were hints of improprieties found in a school district-commissioned audit of the high school’s Allied Student Body funds and the Youth Baseball Trust Fund, Grant said.

“In the audit, they found evidence of internal conflicts of interest involving Scyphers, lack of internal controls (of money) and questionable activity,” he said. “But they didn’t find any criminal activity. . . . In a case like this when you have to present it to a jury, you’re looking for strong evidence of criminal activity.”

Scyphers also has filed a grievance against the school district, claiming the district violated the teachers’ collective-bargaining agreement by suspending him without five days’ notice. The district has maintained that Scyphers was not entitled to notice because he was suspended only from coaching, not teaching.

Brian O’Neill, Scyphers’ attorney, criticized the district for taking the case to the police.

“It is clear to me, from looking at this thing with some sort of hindsight, that there is some sort of agenda out there to clear out the athletic department,” O’Neill said. “I think that Dr. Scroggin referring what is apparently an employer-employee dispute to a prosecuting agency is inappropriate.”

Despite the friction with the school district, Scyphers said, he wants to return as coach.

“This is a game I’ve put so much into and I’m not going to have people tell me when they want me to get out,” he said. “I want to get out on my own terms and when I’m darn good and ready to get out.

“As of now I feel like I owe the parents a tremendous amount for what they’ve given me. A lot of them have kids coming back next year and I want to thank those parents.”