Brandon Harder
Regina Leader-Post
Convicted sex offender and former hockey coach Bernie Lynch landed back in custody after he sent a Facebook friend request to the
former player he was found guilty of assaulting.
The incident is documented in an Aug. 26 decision from the Parole Board of Canada, which revoked Lynch’s day parole.
In December 2023, Lynch was convicted of sexually and physically assaulting a 17-year-old hockey player in 1988. The former player, now an adult, cannot be named due to a court-ordered publication ban, which is standard in such cases.
At the time of the offences, the player was meant to be participating in a hockey school put on by the Regina Pats, a Western Hockey League (WHL) organization which had then recently hired Lynch as an assistant coach.
At trial, he testified that Lynch had pressured him to drink and take off his clothes before ultimately sexually assaulting him. The physical
assault conviction pertained to punches to the teen player’s arm and a strike to his testicles with a ring of keys, said to have occurred the day after the sexual assault.
Lynch’s day parole has been suspended in the past after his alleged behaviour at a halfway house raised concerns. However, after being released again, his actions online led to his arrest.
The parole board decision states that on May 26, his supervisor received a call from the RCMP. The man Lynch was convicted of assaulting told them the former coach made contact with him via Facebook. Officers took photos of the friend request displayed on the man’s phone as evidence, the decision notes.
“You knowingly accessed your victim’s Facebook profile on multiple occasions. You told the Board you only did so three times, yet during the post suspension interview you report you had been doing so monthly for the past six months,” the decision states.
“As well, you provided the Board with several different reasons as to why you were accessing the victim’s Facebook profile in the first instance.”
While the decision acknowledges it could be argued that viewing the man’s Facebook account was not technically in breach of a condition not to contact him, it states that the friend request was over the line.
Lynch told the board he was doing research for a book and that the friend request must’ve happened in advertently while he was in the process of reaching out to people with whom he’d worked.
“The Board has difficulty believing the Facebook friend invite was sent out by accident, a slip of the finger while scrolling through contacts.”
The decision also states Lynch “downplayed” the actions that led to his criminal conviction in 2023. “Granted you ‘now’ accept responsibility for your actions, but it was with the caveat that your memory is not so good, and you do not remember much of events at this time, yet you are able to work on a book that spans over 40 years.”
The decision states the board found Lynch’s risk level to have risen to an “undue” level and that he was in control of his actions. It notes that he’d previously been advised to ask if he had any questions about what was expected of him during his release, but he did not, and “fledged ignorance” when called on his actions.
The Correctional Service of Canada recommended an additional condition be imposed on Lynch, designed to allow authorities to monitor his phone usage.
However, the parole board did not view that as sufficient.
“The board does not believe there is any viable release plan that could manage your risk in the community even with a Telecommunication Restriction as you lack insight into your offending cycle,” the decision concludes.
bharder@postmedia.com
