Gymnastics coach faces charges

A gymnastics coach has been charged with numerous sexual offences involving a teen girl, police west of Toronto said Tuesday.

Peel regional police say they were approached earlier this year by a 15-year-old girl from the area who reported multiple allegations of sexual misconduct over a four-year period.

The accused was the girl’s coach at the time of the alleged incidents, police said, and he has since been suspended by both Gymnastics Canada and its provincial affiliate, Gymnastics Ontario.

Scott McFarlane, 28, of Mississauga, Ont., faces one count each of sexual assault, sexual interference, luring a child under 16 years old, making sexually explicit material available to a child under 16 years of age and indecent exposure to a child.

Police say McFarlane worked as a coach in Mississauga, as well as Ottawa, Oakville, Ont., and Western Canada, though they did not provide further details.

They have said there may be other alleged victims and are urging anyone with information to come forward.

Dave Sandford, CEO of Gymnastics Ontario, said in a phone interview that the allegations that led to charges against McFarlane were the second set of accusations levelled against him.

He wouldn’t discuss details of the first complaint, but said that in October the organization suspended McFarlane for three months because of it, as per the organization’s policies.

After the first set of allegations, Sandford said, there was a second complaint and the matter escalated to police.

Sandford wouldn’t say whether the separate reports came from one person or from two.