A Uniontown, Pa., T-ball coach accused of offering an 8-year-old $25 to "bean" an autistic teammate never even spoke to the boy, the coach's family testified.

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Sherree Miller said Wednesday her fiance, coach Mark R. Downs Jr., 29, did not speak with player Keith Reese Jr. on the way to the dugout that day in June 2005, The Sentinel of Carlisle, Pa., reported.

Her testimony was corroborated by Downs' twin 9-year-old daughters and his father, Mark Sr.

Downs is accused of offering to pay Reese, then 8, to hit Harry Bowers, then 9, with a ball while warming up so he couldn't play in a playoff game.

Prosecutors argued Downs did not want Bowers in the game because he didn't play as well as his teammates. Bowers has autism and mild mental retardation.

Downs is charged with criminal solicitation to commit aggravated assault, corruption of minors, conspiracy to commit simple assault and reckless endangerment.