Former hockey coach pleads guilty to sexually assaulting teen player

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This article was published 30/10/2024 (335 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A former youth hockey coach has admitted to sexually assaulting one of her players.

Madison Biluk, 29, pleaded guilty in Winnipeg court Wednesday to one count of sexual assault and one count of luring. As a result of her guilty pleas, the Crown stayed a dozen additional sexual assault- and child pornography-related charges.

Biluk chewed gum, nodded her head and smiled frequently as she sat in the prisoner’s box listening to Crown attorney Larissa Campbell read from an agreed statement of facts detailing the circumstances of her crimes. They included repeated sex acts, sexualized text messages, and taking nude pictures and videos of the victim when she was between the ages of 15 and 16.

Biluk, who was accompanied to court by a dozen supporters, will be sentenced at a later date following the completion of a number of reports requested by the defence.

Prosecutors will seek a prison sentence, the duration of which was not disclosed in court. Prison sentences start at two years.

Court heard Biluk met the then-14-year-old victim in the spring of 2019 when she tried out for the AAA team she was assistant coaching. Biluk at the time was already raising eyebrows for the amount of time she spent with players in the dressing room and was cautioned, along with other coaching staff, by their head coach about maintaining appropriate boundaries.

The victim joined the team for the 2019-20 season and was soon among a handful of players that Biluk drove to practices at their home rink, north of Winnipeg.

“Over time, the accused and the victim became closer to one another,” Campbell said, reading from the agreed statement of facts.

Early in the season, Biluk continued to spend time in the player change room before and after games and practices, which was noticed by another assistant coach.

The coach “noted that the accused’s behaviour with the players went beyond the professional coach/player relationship,” Campbell said. “She believed that the accused spent significant periods of time with the players, she contacted them outside of hockey, and was particularly interested in their home lives.”

In October 2019, the victim was injured in a game. In the days that followed, Biluk direct-messaged the teen to check on her health.

“From that point onward, the accused and the victim regularly communicated over Snapchat, FaceTime, and other social media platforms,” Campbell said.

Conversations about homework quickly transitioned to more “personal discussions,” about sex, sexual preference and relationship history, with Biluk disclosing she had previously dated a woman.

Biluk and the girl would sit together on bus rides to hockey games. Other players described them as being attached “hip-to-hip.”

The two would talk on the phone for hours, early into the morning.

“During one phone call, the accused and the victim communicated that they liked one another,” Campbell said. Biluk told the victim that as her coach, it would be bad to pursue a relationship together.

But instead of pulling away, Biluk’s pursuit of the now 15-year-old girl escalated, as she sent her “increasingly sexualized” Snapchat messages and sexually explicit photographs.

At some point, the girl disclosed to Biluk she had been sexually abused by a “trusted adult figure” and the two became closer.

In December 2019, Biluk was driving the victim home when she kissed the girl on the lips, causing her to panic.

“The accused consoled her and told her that it was ‘OK’ and ‘normal,’” Campbell said.

Sexual activity between the two escalated, and they “agreed to be girlfriends,” with Biluk telling the girl to keep their relationship a secret.

When the girl’s friends questioned the “relationship,” Biluk told her to tell them Biluk was her 18-year-old girlfriend, named Sarah.

In February 2020, Biluk rented an Airbnb for Valentine’s Day and recorded a sex tape with the victim.

By March 2020, Biluk and the victim were arguing regularly over their relationship, which had caused the victim to lose many of her friends.

“Despite these disagreements, however, they continued to spend time together,” Campbell said. “While the accused continued to perform sexual acts on the victim, the victim did not perform sexual acts on the accused.”

The following June, the girl ended her dating relationship with Biluk, but they continued to meet, with Biluk continuing to perform sex acts on her.

“The victim was emotionally attached to the accused and felt that this was the only way to keep the accused present in her life,” Campbell said.

When the victim moved on to a romantic relationship with another teen girl, Biluk created a Snapchat account with a fake name and messaged the victim’s friends and made disparaging comments about her girlfriend.

Between September 2020 and February 2021, Biluk and the victim were still seeing each other and occasionally had sex.

In Janury 2021, the victim started dating a teen boy, which again caused “friction” with Biluk. One month later, all contact between Biluk and the victim had ceased.

Biluk went on to coach AA hockey in Alberta for the 2021-22 season, with her behaviour raising concerns about her “inappropriate boundaries with players,” Campbell said.

Biluk was not invited to return after the season ended and moved back to Winnipeg, where she lasted one more year as a coach before similar concerns put an end to her career.

In early 2023, the victim was struggling with her sexual identity and twice attempted suicide. Weeks later, she met another female teen active in the hockey community who disclosed being similarly groomed by Biluk.

“After hearing about (the teen’s) history with the accused, the victim started to process the abuse she experienced,” Campbell said.

In October 2023, the victim recorded a TikTok video describing how Biluk had exploited her. Winnipeg police became aware of the video and launched an investigation.

Biluk was arrested Nov. 9, 2023, and in a police statement “did not deny sexual contact with the victim.”

Biluk called the victim a “pathological liar” and said that she still cared for her.

Biluk told police if she has any issues, “it’s because she cares too much.”

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca