Former ski coach found guilty of sexual assault
Judge ruled ‘predator’ abused young students 20 years ago
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 as well as other locations such as Whistler, B.C., New Zealand and the United States.
All but one was under the age of 18, with the youngest being 12. The guilty verdicts pertained to charges involving nine of the 12 women.
Many of the victims listened alongside family members as Lepine read out the verdicts for about 40 minutes in Saint-Jerome, north of Montreal.
Charest stood and occasionally shook his head as Lepine addressed the court and the accused appeared to mouth a “wow” when the judge finished reading the verdicts.
“The court believes the complainants and their testimonies are credible and reliable,” Lepine said.