By Adriana Christianson

Cabri hockey coach sentenced to 5 years for sexual assault

May 6, 2015 | 5:05 PM

Former hockey coach Ryan Chamberlin received a five-year sentence in a Swift Current courtroom after pleading guilty to three counts of sexual assault and one count of child luring.

Chamberlin was first arrested and charged in February. One of his victims came forward to police after his parents found inappropriate text messages from his coach on his phone. Within a month,three more victims came forward to police.

After the sentencing on Wednesday morning, the mother of one of the victims spoke to News Talk Radio by phone. Her name is not being used in order to protect the identity of her son.

“We all anticipated these results. There wasn’t one person in court that felt that five years was enough,” she said.

She fears that Chamberlin will get early parole then move to another small town where he can try to find cracks in the system to exploit children again. As a mother, she wants to encourage other parents to educate themselves so they can protect their children.

“I just really feel strongly that sentencing guidelines need to change. These people take a child’s soul and like Ryan Chamberlin, who already had a prior record, 88 per cent of these people reoffend,” she said.

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As a mother, she is not surprised that many people assume rules are already in place to protect their children. She remembers meeting Chamberlin when she took her son to a preconditioning hockey camp in Swift Current.

“I had assumed everyone on the ice would have gone through a criminal-record check,” she said.

A record check would have revealed Chamberlin’s prior conviction for assaulting a very young boy in B.C. She hopes minor sports organizations, schools, cities and small towns will learn a lesson and impose criminal-record checks for all people who work or volunteer with youth.

Chamberlin was sentenced to two years each for two significant sexual assaults. He also received six-month sentences for two other offenses. Those add up to the full five consecutive years.

Crown prosecutor Glen Herman says the Crown submitted a recommendation for a five-year sentence based on precedents set in prior cases. Crown prosecutors also consider the circumstances of the offences and the fact that the accused pleaded guilty which spared victims from further trouble in court.

Chamberlin’s name will also be added to the sex offender registry for life.

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On Twitter: @princealbertnow

by Adriana Christianson

Cabri hockey coach sentenced to 5 years for sexual assault

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