SWIFT CURRENT, Sask. – A former hockey coach in Saskatchewan has been sentenced to five years in prison for sexually assaulting young boys. Ryan Chamberlin pleaded guilty in a Swift Current courtroom earlier this month.
He also admitted to child luring.
Chamberlin was charged in February when one of his victims went to police after the boy’s parents found inappropriate text messages from the coach on a phone.
Three more victims came forward within a month.
The mother of one of the boys says the sentence was disappointing.
“There wasn’t one person in court that felt that five years was enough,” said the woman, who is not being named to protect the identity of her son.
READ MORE: Former Sask. hockey coach pleads guilty to sex assault, luring boys
She said she fears that Chamberlin will get early parole and move to another small town where he could exploit children again.
“I … 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 she assumed Chamberlin had gone through a criminal record check when she met him at a hockey camp in Swift Current. That would have revealed his prior conviction for assaulting a very young boy in British Columbia, she said.
The mother hopes minor sports organizations, schools, cities and small towns will learn a lesson and mandate criminal record checks for all people who work or volunteer with youth.
Chamberlin’s name will be added to the sex offender registry for life.
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