A Calgary youth coach is facing child pornography charges after a lengthy investigation into online offences.
The 42-year-old man coached youth sports, specifically minor soccer, the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team (ALERT) said in a release Friday. He was a coach with McKenzie United Soccer Club, and previously other youth sports groups in the city.
The investigation started in August 2016, when the Internet Child Exploitation unit received two different complaints from the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children, about someone in Calgary uploading child pornography to the internet.
A search warrant executed on June 1 saw a number of electronic devices seized from a Calgary home. They were brought for further forensic investigation.
“There’s always a concern that we’ll find more than just child pornography on an individual’s device; we may find that he was a contact or hands-on offender,” said ALERT Det. Sean Spence.
“We don’t have an indication that’s the case at this point in time, and we hope that’s not the case, but with these kind of investigations, the images did originate somewhere and it’s always possible that we may find the images originated from the accused’s devices that were seized.”
Spence said there’s no indication that there were children directly involved, but parents should still contact police if they learn their child may have been a victim.
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McKenzie United Soccer Club (MUSC) said the coach has been terminated, and that the group is cooperating with police and the Calgary Minor Soccer Association in their handling of the matter.
“It saddens us to our core that we must share this news with our membership as, above all else, we want the kids in our care to grow up to become healthy, capable, caring and competent adults and it is our role to ensure that we provide them with childhood experiences that allow for this,” the release said.
“This situation is deeply concerning and we have always and will continue to do whatever we can to protect the youth in our club.”
In a statement released late Friday, the Calgary Minor Soccer Association (CMSA) said they were “deeply saddened” to share the news with members and coaches.
“As you know, CMSA requires all coaches to go through the e-PIC (electronic Police Information Check) system to ensure a safe and healthy environment for youth soccer players,” the release said.
“CMSA will continue to assist with any further investigations to ensure the safety of our players and will communicate directly with our member clubs should any additional information become available. CMSA encourages any members, parents or volunteers with concerns regarding the safety of our youth to report to the police immediately.”
Brent Bulycz faces charges of possessing, accessing and making child pornography available. He’s been released on several conditions, including being prohibited from any youth coaching or contact with children under the age of 18.
ALERT says that while the charges relate to internet offences, they encourage anyone with information about this case to contact police or cybertip.ca
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