Calgary police have charged a volunteer coach at a high school in the city with sexual assault after a minor alleged she had been sexually assaulted by a man for nearly two years.
Investigators allege the suspect met the victim when she was 15 and used his position of trust to groom the victim before the assaults began.
Police said the victim had contact with the accused through her school, as well as through extracurricular activities.
“Everybody from the school to the players and the parents of those players trusted him to coach and mentor their students and their children and the accused took advantage of that position to take advantage of one of his players,” said Staff Sgt. Chris Tudor of the CPS Child Abuse Unit.
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Police have identified the accused as Drew Alan Robertson, 50, of Calgary and said he was arrested on Wednesday, May 13, following an investigation by the CPS Child Abuse Unit.
Tudor said the investigation began following reports a man had recently and unintentionally shared a video with an online chat group.
“It was inappropriate and sexual in nature, of one individual male that had been shared with a parent-student group chat of the high school. That didn’t really form part of our investigation, but it did lead to the beginning of the investigation,” said Tudor.
“We believe the person in the video that was shared to the group chat is the person that has been charged,” Tudor added.
Robertson has been charged with one count of sexual assault, one count of sexual exploitation and one count of making sexually explicit material available to children.
Robertson, who is also the athletic director for Evolve Sports Performance in Calgary, according to his online profile, is scheduled to appear in court on May 20.
The victim is also receiving support from the Luna Child and Youth Advocacy Centre.
“In instances like this, we really want people to understand what the grooming process looks like,” said Karen Orser, CEO of Luna.
“Grooming can happen over a long period of time, and it can involve trusted adults, secrecy and manipulation, and children and youth don’t often realize that grooming is even happening — so it is something we need to pay attention to.”
“If people or parents, caregivers are noticing inappropriate texts, favouritism, just things that normally you wouldn’t expect from someone in a position of power, we want you to listen to your instinct and talk to somebody about that,” added Orser.
Calgary police are asking anyone with information about the case, or anyone who believes they are a victim of sexual assault, regardless of when it occurred, to contact them at 403-266-1234.
Tips can also be submitted anonymously to Crime Stoppers by calling 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS), online at calgarycrimestoppers.org or by downloading the Crime Stoppers app (P3 Tips) from the app store.
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