Local police say that they have no authority to arrest a coach who has been accused by the Hartford Police in Connecticut, USA, of being a child molester.

The man, a vice-principal of a prominent Jamaican high school and one of the school's successful cricket coaches, is being sought by the Hartford police for reportedly fondling a Jamaican 13-year-old boy while attending a cricket summer camp there.

However, local police say their hands are tied until a formal request is made by the overseas police.

"I've checked with the Fugitive Apprehension Team, which would be the first department to know about this, and they have received no requests," said Deputy Commissioner of Police, Mark Shields.

"We cannot act on information in the media. We will wait until they submit a letter to the DPP (Director of Public Prosecutions)."

Meanwhile, Jamaica Teachers Association president, Ena Barclay, on Thursday night said, "We would have to do our investigations, but if a teacher does something like that disciplinary action would be taken against that teacher."

According to the Hartford Courant newspaper, which broke the story on Thursday, Lt. Mark J. Tedeschi, commander of the Hartford Police Department's juvenile investigative division, said they obtained an arrest warrant on August 23, charging the principal with third-degree sexual assault, fourth-degree sexual assault, reckless endangerment, risk of injury to a minor and unlawful restraint.

Lt. Tedeschi went on to say that the principal/coach is "on the run", but checks with several persons in the cricket community by THE STAR revealed that the accused man is in the island. THE STAR also understands that he picked up his car at Sabina Park on his return to the island.

The accused and several young cricketers went to Hartford to help promote the sport in that city. They stayed on a school dormitory where the young boy said the accused fondled him sometime around August 12.

The police were alerted to the incident by the boy's mother, who lives in the USA, after she was told the coach touched her son's "private parts".

It is reported that organisers of the camp handed a letter to the accused on August 18 urging him to resign from all cricketing posts.