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Guilty on 37 sex charges

Former high-performance ski coach Bertrand Charest was found guilty Thursday of 37 of the 57 charges against him in connection with sexual relations with his students.

The 57 counts included sexual assault and breach of trust involving 12 females who were between 12 and 19 at the time of the offences and alleged offences.

Charest, 52, was acquitted on 18 charges, while the court said it didn't have jurisdiction over the two other counts. The guilty verdicts pertained to nine of the 12 complainants.

Many of the victims listened alongside family members as Quebec court Judge Sylvain Lepine read out the verdicts for about 40 minutes at the courthouse in Saint-Jerome, north of Montreal.

Charest stood and occasionally shook his head as Lepine addressed the court and the accused appear to mouth a "wow" when the judge finished reading the verdicts.

The allegations dated back to the 1990s and were in connection with events that occurred in Quebec as well as other locations such as Whistler, B.C., New Zealand and the United States. The offences took place both before and during Charest's stint with Alpine Canada's women's development team between 1996 and 1998.

Charest has been in custody since his arrest in March 2015.



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