PRECAUTION A PRIORITY

The fact a University of Saskatchewan volleyball player was facing sexual assault charges when he was recruited to the team is cause for great concern. Apparently, the need to take a strong stand against such crimes is still not clearly understood by all.

Matthew Alan Meyer, who is from Prince Albert, pleaded guilty to sexual assault on Monday in Medicine Hat Court of Queen’s Bench in connection with an incident in January 2016. Meyer assaulted a passed-out Medicine Hat College student and took photos during the incident.

Meyer played for the Huskies in the 201718 season, when the charge had not yet been proven in court. Head Coach Brian Gavlas, who knew Meyer as a 16-year-old, did know the potential player had been accused of sexual assault. Innocent until proven guilty is an important concept and should be taken seriously. The young man at the centre of this story deserved to have his day in court and to have justice take its course. This does not mean, however, that victims — and potential victims — do not deserve consideration and protection as soon as an alleged incident takes place.

Now, Meyer has admitted the offence and has been formally found guilty, confirming that he should have been precluded from being part of the Huskies’ squad.

Gavlas’ comments do not offer assurance that the charges were taken seriously. “It became a choice and decision that for his time during this past year it would be best for him to be supported and part of a passion and as port that he enjoyed and a group of guys that could support him … Nowhere along the lines did we take anything that had happened in the past into account with his involvement with our team,” he told the Prince Albert Daily Herald.

Gavlas is not wrong about the need to help misguided youth get back on track. Those chances, however, need to come once individuals have taken full responsibility for their actions.

Meyer had not finished his work with the justice system, and the victim did not have an outcome, when he was granted the privilege of playing on the team. It may have been very hard for that young woman to know the man who assaulted her was travelling and playing the sport he loved — even as she tried to deal with the brutal assault.

The university is investigating, and it is not clear if anyone else knew that Meyer was facing charges when he joined the team. This is an important investigation and the results should be made public as quickly as possible.

On Thursday, the university announced that Gavlas has been fired. This is hopefully the first move in a series of actions to address this issue.