Crown seeking 3-year sentence for ex-coach convicted of sexual assault

Five weeks after Bernie Lynch was found guilty of sexual assault and assault, the Crown revealed it’s seeking a three-year prison sentence for the former hockey coach.

During sentencing submissions Thursday at Regina’s Court of King’s Bench, Crown prosecutor Chris White recommended that Lynch be sent to prison. Lynch’s lawyer, Andrew L. Hitchcock, advocated for two years less a day, meaning Lynch would serve his sentence in a provincial jail.

Sentencing is scheduled to take place Jan. 19. at 9 a.m.

The 69-year-old Lynch was found guilty of sexual assault and assault in December in connection with an incident from August 1988.

Lynch was accused of pressuring a 17-year-old boy into drinking and getting naked. Lynch then followed the boy into the shower and touched him inappropriately while also demanding the boy touch him.

White said in court that while he recognizes the incident may have been a one-time event, it left a profound impact.

“His conduct needs to be denounced in the strongest possible terms,” White said.

White argued that Lynch is a smart, capable person who can be held morally responsible for his actions as he abused a position of authority.

Hitchcock said Lynch maintains his innocence but has respected the process.

“He had a trial, the judge found a verdict and now it’s my job to try and persuade the judge to give him the best sentence I can,” Hitchcock told reporters outside court Thursday.

“From Mr. Lynch’s perspective, he doesn’t accept that he’s guilty so he’s just trying to stay positive and live life.”

Even though Lynch has maintained his innocence, Hitchcock said in light of the judge’s decision, the lawyer recommended that Lynch has no contact with the victim and that Lynch take sex offender counselling.

Hitchcock said sex offender counselling can provide positive benefits even to those who believe they’re innocent.

In the courtroom, Hitchcock said he wouldn’t be opposed to Lynch being prevented from being near playgrounds or volunteering at schools.

White invited the victim to read a statement. The victim became emotional as he chronicled his life up until the incident in 1988.

“I wondered if there was something wrong with me. I felt damaged,” he said.

The victim, who can’t be named under a publication ban, said the assault affected his behaviour and his relationships in addition to his psychological and emotional well-being.

He went on to say how the trial has re-traumatized him, but he feels like a weight has been taken off his chest.

Hitchcock said Lynch relies on fixed income from a federal pension, which he would lose if he is given a federal sentence. He said Lynch was unemployed, unemployable and bankrupt.

Hitchcock added that society wouldn’t be improved by Lynch becoming homeless after the sentence, but said there would be public benefit if Lynch was monitored and had a probation officer.

According to a media release from the time of Lynch’s arrest, police received a report in April of 2021 alleging offences by a man against a teenaged boy in Regina in 1988.

“At that time, the alleged offender held a position of authority as a hockey coach, and it was through this position that he was introduced to the victim, who was 17 years old at the time,” the police release said.

“Investigation into these allegations led to evidence sufficient to support charges of both assault and sexual assault against the adult male.”

Lynch was the head coach of the SJHL’s Humboldt Broncos in the mid-1980s and the WHL’s Regina Pats later that decade. His coaching career also included a stop with the under-18 Regina Pat Canadians in the late ’90s.

He also was the head coach of the Fort Frances (Ont.) Lakers in the Superior International Junior Hockey League. The Fort Frances Lakers Hockey Association suspended Lynch in January of 2021 after learning of what it called “inappropriate communications from Mr. Lynch to a player.”

Lynch was later fired.