‘No cure for the havoc he wreaked’: judge sends ex-high school coach to prison for 20 years for sexually assaulting players

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This article was published 07/10/2024 (333 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Kelsey McKay wielded his powerful influence to manipulate and sexually groom vulnerable teens under his wing, a judge said Monday before sentencing the disgraced high school football coach to 20 years in prison.

“Mr. McKay abused children for his own gratification and there is no cure for the havoc he wreaked,” provincial court Judge Ray Wyant said at the end of a nearly three hour-long sentencing hearing, during which his voice frequently cracked with emotion.

“Mr. McKay, if our justice system was based on vengeance, you would be sentenced to life, as you have sentenced your victims to life,” Wyant said.

The 54-year-old former coach was led out of the courtroom in handcuffs to begin serving his sentence as a packed courtroom that included several of his victims watched on in silence.

McKay pleaded guilty in July 2023 to nine counts of sexual assault and two counts of luring in relation to nine teenage victims he had coached during his years at Vincent Massey Collegiate and Churchill High School.

The offences he admitted to happened 10 to 20 years ago when McKay was in his 30s and 40s. Most of his victims were between the ages of 15 and 18.

McKay, who Wyant at one point described as a “local legend,” was a winning coach whose reputation drew young players and parents alike into his orbit.

According to an agreed statement of facts provided to court, McKay targeted both students and athletes he coached and was known to give special attention to students who had difficult home lives or absent parents.

McKay invited teen victims to his home to “hang out” and watch football or movies. He hosted team hot tub parties, provided his victims with alcohol and showed some of them pornography. McKay’s behaviour escalated to providing one-on-one sexual massages and masturbating some victims. McKay gave nicknames to some of his victims’ genitals, sent them sexualized text messages and would ask them to kiss him on the cheek.

“Like a thief, Mr. McKay stole their innocence and their childhood.”–Judge Ray Wyant

Several victims described feeling frozen when McKay assaulted them, not knowing how to fend off his advances.

Wyant told victims they were in no way to blame for what McKay did to them.

“Though these words may not be of much comfort to you, to the extent that I can, on behalf of our society, and all those who would like to say something to you, express to each and every one of you our profound apologies for what happened to each and every one of you,” Wyant said.

“Like a thief, Mr. McKay stole their innocence and their childhood,” he said. “Like a killer, Mr. McKay murdered a part of their soul and their being.”

McKay’s actions tarnished every coach and teacher who act in the best interests of the children in their care, Wyant said.

“Being a coach is a tremendous responsibility” and “can have a tremendous impact on a kid,” Wyant said. “You took that sacred trust… and employed the culture of your sport to psychologically manipulate these children and then gain their silence by fear.

“Shame on you Mr. McKay, shame on you.”

At a sentencing hearing last March, several of McKay’s now-adult victims and family members told court how McKay’s abuse sent their lives on a downward spiral of substance abuse, depression, shattered marriages and suicide attempts.

“I feel the effects of what happened to this day,” one man, now in his 30s, told court. “I hid this abuse for 15 years, I tried to pretend it didn’t happen.”

“Shame on you Mr. McKay, shame on you.”–Judge Ray Wyant

One of McKay’s victims died by suicide three months after providing a statement to police in April 2022 about the abuse he suffered.

“He has absolutely destroyed parts of my life that I will never get back,” the man said in an audio recording of his police statement provided to court.

“There were so many other people, that’s what really gets to me,” the man told investigators. “I feel I could have done so much more… I’m sorry it took me so long to say something.”

Asked what he would tell McKay if given the opportunity, the man urged McKay to seek help.

“I don’t hate you, I hate what you did,” the man said. “You are a good person, you have shown it, but you can be a very bad person, too. What you did is absolutely unforgivable and sickening. There is no way anybody is going to heal from this, the way you conducted yourself. But I hope you get the help that you need.”

The man committed suicide less than three months later.

“These crimes were not committed yesterday… and yet the effect of the devastation of these crimes is as raw and as apparent today as ever,” Wyant said.

“These are lifelong, life-altering consequences… Mr. McKay’s victimization still occurs every day since and will every day in the future for the lives of these victims. They are all, individually and collectively, serving life sentences, because even if those effects diminish over time, we all know they will never go away.”

The Crown had recommended McKay be sentenced to 25 years in prison. Wyant said a 25-year sentence wouldn’t adequately take into account McKay’s guilty pleas, which spared the victims from testifying at trial and which were entered before McKay knew what sentence the Crown would be seeking.

“I appreciate the time and care that it took for the judge to reach a sentence that matched the seriousness of the crimes committed. While there’s still plenty of work to be done to prevent similar atrocities from happening in the future, especially within the school system, I believe the judge represented us the best he could,” one of McKay’s victims, who asked to remain anonymous, told the Free Press after the sentence was handed down.

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“The message this sends to the public is that we’re not taking sexual or any type of abuse towards children lightly, whether it happens in the classroom or on the football field. The time Kelsey will have to spend in prison, there’s some closure there. But it doesn’t change what he did and the pain he’s caused for so many.

Wyant retired from the bench last month, with the McKay sentencing still outstanding. The judge said the lengthy delay since the last sentencing hearing in March was partly attributable to his own emotional reaction to the evidence in the case.

“Hearing the circumstances of these grievous assaults and hearing all of the victim impact was emotional and it was impossible not to be moved by it,” Wyant said. “Sometimes, as here, you just need to take some time to ensure those emotions are not unduly influential.

“I’m not sure, Mr. McKay, why your actions had such an impact on me, and the reasons aren’t important. What was important for me was to recognize that emotion and the abject anger that your violation of these kids had on me and to ensure to the best of my ability that anger and emotion would play absolutely no part in my responsibility to impose a fit and appropriate sentence on you for your deeds.”

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca

Dean Pritchard
Courts reporter

Dean Pritchard is courts reporter for the Free Press. He has covered the justice system since 1999, working for the Brandon Sun and Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in 2019. Read more about Dean.

Every piece of reporting Dean produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.