- Four women who were sexually abused by Canada’s former ski coach speak out
- The ladies, Genevieve Simard, Gail Kelly, Amelie Frederique-Gagnon and Anna Prchal, suffered the assault more than 20 years ago
- Bertrand Charest was found guilty a year ago of 37 of the 57 sex-related charges
- The former coach received a 12-year prison term. He is appealing his conviction and sentence and was also denied bail last year
- The victims won the right to be identified last week when a judge granted their request to lift a publication ban
- They spoke at a Monday conference and said he robbed them of their childhood
Four women sexually assaulted by Canada’s former national ski coach when they were adolescents said Monday he robbed them of much of their childhood.
Genevieve Simard, Gail Kelly, Amelie Frederique-Gagnon and Anna Prchal attended a news conference more than 20 years after the repeated abuse.
‘My childhood was stolen. Skiing was my passion. I aspired to great things. I had dreams and skiing was my life,’ Simard said.
‘The sexual abuse I suffered completely destroyed my self-confidence.’
The women won the right last week to be identified after a judge granted their request to lift a publication ban.
Genevieve Simard (left) and Gail Kelly (right) were two victims of sexual abuse by Canada’s former national ski coach, Bertrand Charest
Amelie Frederique-Gagnon (left) and Anna Prchal (right) were also victims. The four women attended a news conference this week when they spoke out about the abuse that happened more than 20 years ago
Bertrand Charest was found guilty a year ago of 37 of the 57 sex-related charges.
He received a 12-year prison term and is appealing both his conviction and sentence and was denied bail last year.
The convictions involved nine of the 12 women who accused him of crimes that occurred more than 20 years ago when the victims and alleged victims were between ages 12 and 19.
Bertrand Charest (pictured) was found guilty a year ago of 37 of the 57 sex-related charges
Charest received a 12-year prison term and is appealing both his conviction and sentence and was denied bail last year
Quebec court Judge Sylvain Lepine said the victims were still suffering from what he called ‘serious health consequences’ from the abuse that took place between 1991 and 1998.
Kelly said Charest took advantage of her passion for skiing and ‘my dream quickly turned into a nightmare.’
She said she has three young children and would never let them compete at the provincial or national level in any sport under the current structure.
‘It is urgent that we put in place a system that allows our children to be safe,’ she said.
‘I don’t want anyone to go through what I did: being manipulated, denigrated and belittled.’
She added: ‘I used to be funny, smiling and very sociable.
‘But because of this manipulator, I became sad and withdrawn and someone who felt like a complete loser.’
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