Anne Arundel County baseball trainer charged with soliciting a minor

A local baseball trainer was arrested and charged with sexually soliciting a minor, according to the Anne Arundel County Police Department and online court records.

Juan Francisco Palacios-Velazquez, 55, of Severn, was arrested on Feb. 27 by the Anne Arundel County Sheriff’s Office, officials said. He is also charged with soliciting child sexual abuse material and a related charge.

The Police Department’s Internet Crimes Against Children Unit received a tip in August 2025 alleging Palacios-Velazquez was communicating with a 15-year-old girl online, according to police charging documents.

Palacios-Velazquez allegedly sent multiple explicit messages over Instagram to the teenager, who sent an image back, the charging documents state. An investigator with the Police Department certified the image with Meta, Instagram’s parent company, and confirmed that it is child sexual abuse material.

The teenage girl informed detectives that she told Palacios-Velazquez she was a minor before he messaged her and requested she send explicit images, according to the charging documents. The detective on the case wrote that Palacios-Velazquez “confirmed he remembered this specific conversation and confirmed he remembered personally sending those messages.”

Will Cockey, a spokesperson for the Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney’s Office, declined to comment, citing the ongoing case.

County police said they determined Palacios-Velazquez was a local baseball trainer and had used a facility in the county for training.

Police did not specify which facility, but said officials there were notified “that Palacios-Velazquez was under investigation regarding child safety.”

Justin Mulcahy, a spokesperson for Anne Arundel Police, said Palacios-Velazquez is the same Juan Palacios of Palacios Baseball Clinics. The website describes Palacios-Velazquez as a “professional baseball trainer with more than 30 years of coaching experience.”

Mulcahy said police confirmed Palacios-Velazquez was a baseball coach in December.

Palacios-Velazquez was released on his own recognizance after a bail review Monday afternoon. He does not have an attorney listed in online court records and could not immediately be reached for comment.