Content advisory: This article contains mentions of child sex abuse and sexual assault. Please take care while reading.
A 32-year old man who once lived in Trump Tower with his teenage girlfriend and spent time with her and Donald Trump in Trump’s own apartment, is now serving 45 years in prison for his pedophilic behavior. More specifically, he was convicted of raping a 12-year old girl.
However, the further details paint those initial facts very differently, at least in terms of Trump’s role.
In a recently released documentary on Peacock about the 1990 New York Yankees titled Bronx Zoo ‘90: Crimes, Chaos, and Baseball, the story of convicted pedophile and New York Yankee, Mel Hall, is described.
In 2007, Hall was charged with multiple accounts of sexual assault. The victims were all underage, including a 12-year old. He was convicted on multiple counts of indecency with a child and sentenced to 45 years in prison with the first possibility of parole in 2031.
Hall’s disturbing behavior began when he was a New York Yankee in 1989.
Mel Hall met Chaz Easterly when she attended a Yankee game that year with her friend. Easterly was 15. She wrote to Hall afterwards asking for an autograph, and he invited them to a game where they would be his guest.
Hall took advantage of the meeting by befriending Chaz and her parents, very consistently keeping in touch, and involving himself in their lives. He got on the good side of the family, partly due to his fame and the Easterlys being die-hard Yankee fans. In other words, he effectively groomed them, despite Chaz’s father who — once he realized Hall took a liking to his daughter — warned him that Chaz was just 15 years old.
Nonetheless, Chaz Easterly says that Hall told her very early on that he would marry her. At the time, Hall was 29.
The documentary demonstrates that Hall’s relationship with Easterly was an open secret. In fact, it was so open that it can’t really be called secret at all, considering that Hall’s photo in the Yankees 1991 yearbook was of him and Easterly at her high school prom. She even attended every Yankees game after school, and sat in the section with the other player’s wives. They all knew she was Hall’s girlfriend, but so did the public.
Hall bragged to his teammates about his relationship, as if dating a 15-year old was a badge of honor. It would be a mentality that would ultimately lead him to prison.
At age 17, Easterly moved into Hall’s apartment in Trump Tower in New York City, and actually lived on the same floor as Donald Trump. Being a Yankees fan, Trump befriended Hall, and the two often hung out with each other, along with Easterly.
It’s unclear whether Trump knew how old Easterly was, exactly, but it was obvious they were a couple, and it’s not as if the Yankees ever cared, the wives players ever cared, or the public ever cared.
In the documentary, Easterly explained Mel Hall’s friendship with Trump, saying, “He (Trump) would invite us over to his apartment. He loved sports and he loved to talk to Mel about sports and he loved to just talk about the Yankees. They had a good friendship.”
Hall was interviewed from prison in the documentary, and said about his friendship with Trump, “Donald was fun, easy-going. You know? He wanted to have a lot of fun, right up my alley so it worked out.”
It is unclear what Hall means, exactly, by “fun.”
Hall was often behind on paying his rent, to which Easterly says that Trump was “really gracious for a long time.”
Easterly then described what happened one day that summer that changed her circumstances.
“One day, I was walking down West 57th street and I’d gone shopping and I didn’t leave the house often. As I was walking out, I was alone, and I was never alone ever and I ran into Donald. We had a brief conversation and he kind of paused and he’s like, ‘Are you OK? If you need anything and you need help getting out of the relationship, you let me know.'”
Although Easterly didn’t seek out Trump’s assistance despite his offer, his question set in motion Easterly’s departure from her relationship with Hall.
“I remember going back to that apartment,” Easterly recounts, “and I did not go to the Yankee game that night and I started thinking about that conversation.”
Easterly knew she wasn’t happy and soon, when the Yankees were playing and thus Hall was not around, she left.
Hall was unable to earn a new contract with the Yankees after that year, and moved to Japan to play in the Pacific League.
Kim D’Avignon, an Assistant District Attorney in Tarrant County, Texas, who specializes in sexual crimes involving minors, explained, “Mel Hall was not only a pedophile, he also was very possessive and very controlling, which is very common because one of the things you want to do as a pedophile and as a predator is to isolate your victim so that she doesn’t have any outs to tell on you.”
D’Avignon, who also described the absurdity of a school allowing a grown man to attend an underage girl’s prom as her date, ultimately prosecuted Hall in Texas, winning a conviction in the trial that resulted in his imprisonment. Despite the trial being about girls that Hall sexually assaulted in Texas, and not about his relationship with Easterly, she testified at the trail, at D’Avignon’s request. Her testimony was so powerful that the jury asked to meet with her afterwards, and likely influenced their verdict.
All 3 episodes of Bronx Zoo ‘90: Crimes, Chaos, and Baseball is currently available exclusively on Peacock.
