Ex-ski coach convicted of 37 sex charges

SAINT-JEROME, QUE. • A Quebec judge described a former high-performance Canadian ski coach as a sexual predator Thursday as he found him guilty of 37 charges related to the exploitation and sexual assault of his young female students.

Bertrand Charest’s crimes took place more than 20 years ago as he trained aspiring professional downhill skiers. Some of the offences took place both before and during Charest’s stint with Alpine Canada’s women’s development team between 1996 and 1998.

“The accused acted as a veritable predator, spinning his web carefully to attract young women, teenagers, and to exercise total control over them,” Quebec court Judge Sylvain Lepine said in his ruling. “His search for sexual pleasure had no limits while he was in a position of authority over these young Canadian competitive skiers.”

Charest, 52, was acquitted on 18 charges, while the court said it didn’t have jurisdiction over two other counts because they were related to events that allegedly occurred in New Zealand.

The 57 charges included sexual assault, sexual exploitation and one of sexual assault causing bodily harm. The 12 complainants said the abuse took place between 1991 and 1998 in Quebec and elsewhere. All but one were under 18, with the youngest being 12.

The guilty verdicts pertained to charges involving nine of the 12 women.

Central to the case was the credibility of the victims. On that front, Lepine left no doubt.

“The court believes the complainants and their testimonies are credible and reliable,” he said.

Lepine commended the victims, who he said testified with aplomb and conviction about events they endured 20 years ago.

Several testified they had sexual relationships with Charest, with many saying he was controlling and manipulative toward the athletes whose careers he managed.

Some said they felt they were in love with Charest at the time but eventually came to believe they had been manipulated.

One former competitive skier told the trial Charest took her to have an abortion when she was about 15 after getting pregnant following unprotected sex with him on numerous occasions.

After the abortion, the sexual encounters continued, with Charest purchasing contraceptives for her and getting a prescription from his own father.

The woman, whose identity was under publication ban like that of the other witnesses, testified she was young and in love with her coach and that Charest advised her to keep their relationship quiet because he would go to prison if it became known.

Charest did not testify at the trial, but his lawyer, Antonio Cabral, said the accused had believed the sex he had with the young skiers was consensual.