Manitoba basketball officials supervisor charged with sexually assaulting referees

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This article was published 07/12/2023 (1011 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Winnipeg basketball referee has been arrested after two men took allegations of sexual assault and indecent exposure to police earlier this year.

Michael Shane Maryk, a 42-year-old man who was employed by the Manitoba Association of Basketball Officials at the time of the incidents and as recently as this year, has been charged with two counts of sexual assault and one count of committing an indecent act.

Both victims were MABO referees over 18 years of age when the incidents allegedly occurred.

The two men reported the incidents separately in April, leading to an investigation by the Winnipeg Police Services sex crimes unit and an arrest Nov. 22, a news release issued Thursday said.

The first victim told investigators that between 2010 and 2011, he was in a closed office with Maryk, who spoke with him in a sexual manner and committed an indecent act in front of him.

The second victim said he and Maryk were refereeing a game outside Winnipeg in February 2020. Maryk is alleged to have given him a ride, parked the vehicle in a secluded area and performed an indecent act before sexually assaulting the victim.

That man told police he was invited to Maryk’s home in August 2020 and told there would be a party for basketball officials. He arrived to find he was the only guest and was sexually assaulted a second time.

Both men told police they did not report the incidents sooner out of fear their refereeing careers would suffer.

Police said that Maryk worked as a referee between 2013 and this year, and was in a position of authority, responsible for assigning other officials to specific games.

He was described as the provincial supervisor for MABO in unrelated news stories in February 2023.

Basketball Manitoba executive director Adam Wedlake said MABO removed Maryk from his position after the investigation began.

“Basketball Manitoba and (MABO) acted swiftly to remove this individual from any level of leadership or influence within the basketball community upon initially learning of the matter when the police investigation began that prompted the arrest on Nov. 22,” Wedlake said in an email Thursday afternoon.

“We take matters of this nature extremely seriously, and the individual is ineligible to participate in any Basketball Manitoba (or) MABO sanctioned programs. As this is now in front of the legal system, we will reserve any further comment on the matter while the investigations are ongoing.”

Maryk has been released on an undertaking to appear in court.

Investigators are seeking anyone with further information or who wish to come forward to call the Winnipeg Police Service sex crimes unit at 204-986-6245.

WPS Const. Dani McKinnon would not say if the sex crimes unit was investigating allegations from other victims, but said it would not be unusual for that to happen now that the case has been made public.

“We have found that there have been many circumstances where we have done a release like this with a sporting organization, and other survivors have, essentially, come forward,” she said.

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca