Two former players in the Whitecaps youth residency program made their first court appearance Thursday morning after being charged with sexual assault, and have entered not guilty pleas.
The pair is accused of assaulting another player in the program after a training session in Burnaby in June.
The club faced criticism from the player’s mother who claimed the team discouraged her from going to police.
She said her son was allegedly sexually assaulted by two teammates in the locker room after soccer practice on June 5. Two days passed and the alleged crime had not been reported to the RCMP, the mother said.
She said she trusted the club would handle matters. Instead they were given two options — bringing in a private investigator or a Vancouver Police Department contact who does security. The mother said she felt the program was trying to downplay the incident and because the boys involved are minors, nothing would be done.
READ MORE: Mother claims Whitecaps mishandled sex assault on youth player
“Where they dropped the ball immensely was… not reporting it,” the mother told Global News in June. “I think that the police needed to be called immediately.”
The players are facing one count each.
The mother said her family moved to B.C. so her son could join the Major League Soccer (MLS) team’s residency program, which aims to develop promising young soccer players who aspire to a professional career.
The alleged victim and both suspects, whose names are protected under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, are all under the age of 17.
EXCLUSIVE: Whitecaps youth residency program player allegedly sexually assaulted by teammates, mother claims
The Whitecaps did not answer questions on camera because of the ongoing RCMP investigation, but said in a statement in June that the two youth players involved were put on indefinite suspension.
In a statement issued on July 12, the Whitecaps confirmed the two players in question had been released from the club.
“The club has completed an internal review of the serious incident which took place last month between some male youth players at our Burnaby facility. Two youth involved, who were previously on indefinite suspension, have been released from the club.
The safety and well-being of our players is our top priority and we are deeply committed to providing an environment in which all individuals are treated with respect.
As the matter remains before the courts, the club will have no further comment at this time.”
The two youths were originally scheduled to appear in court last week but it was held over until Thursday morning.
WATCH: The Vancouver Whitecaps are in damage control tonight after Global’s exclusive story of how a member of the team’s residency program was sexually assaulted by teammates. Rumina Daya has a follow-up.
~ with files from Amy Judd and Jon Azpiri