Decision in former Regina junior hockey coach's sexual assault trial expected Friday
CBC
Warning: this story contains details of an alleged sexual assault.
The decision in the trial of a former junior hockey coach charged with sexual assault and assault is set to be released at the Court of King's Bench in Regina this morning.
Bernard 'Bernie' Lynch is alleged to have inappropriately touched and then hit a 17-year-old while working as the assistant coach of the Regina Pats in August 1988.
Lynch has entered pleas of not guilty to both charges.The trial is being overseen by Justice Peter T. Bergbusch.
In the summer of 1988, Lynch was starting his first season as an assistant coach with the Regina Pats.
Lynch's first act, he told the court, was to attempt to recruit a 17-year-old prospect from a small town in Saskatchewan.
Any information that could identify the complainant or his then-girlfriend — the two witnesses called by the Crown during the trial — is protected by a publication ban.
The teen player was invited to take part in a hockey school offered by the Regina Pats that ran between Aug. 7, 1988, and Aug. 13, 1988.
Over the course of the four-day trial this September, Bergbusch heard two very different accounts of what happened next.
The complainant testified that he arrived in Regina on Aug. 7, and was expecting to stay with Lynch that night before moving into a hotel on the following evening.
The complainant said Lynch told him there were two options for sleeping arrangements: in the bed with Lynch or out on the couch.
The then-teenager was then pressured into drinking beer by the junior hockey coach, despite declining multiple times, the complainant said.
The complainant said Lynch encouraged him to get naked and walk in front of the apartment's patio door, which he ultimately did.
Under questioning from senior Crown prosecutor Chris White, the complainant testified he tried to sober up by taking a shower. He had believed the bathroom door was shut and locked but Lynch eventually joined him in the shower, he said.
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