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The Province
2 days ago
- The Province
High-profile Canadian track coach guilty of historic sexual abuse of his young athletes
Ken Porter was found guilty of five criminal charges relating to historic sexual abuse. Many of his victims live in B.C. and pushed for justice. A photo of Ken Porter taken in a Calgary hotel room in 1977. Photo by CHRIS STANFORD / FOR PNG An Alberta judge has found a high-profile track-and-field coach guilty of five criminal charges relating to historic sexual abuse of young athletes four decades ago, describing the accused as 'an adult in authority using a child for their sexual gratification.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Exclusive articles by top sports columnists Patrick Johnston, Ben Kuzma, J.J. Abrams and others. Plus, Canucks Report, Sports and Headline News newsletters and events. Unlimited online access to The Province and 15 news sites with one account. The Province ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles and comics, including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Exclusive articles by top sports columnists Patrick Johnston, Ben Kuzma, J.J. Abrams and others. Plus, Canucks Report, Sports and Headline News newsletters and events. Unlimited online access to The Province and 15 news sites with one account. The Province ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles and comics, including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Ken Porter, 76, was found guilty of two counts of indecent assault and three counts of gross indecency, after a Metro Vancouver man fought to have this long-forgotten case brought to justice. Alberta Justice Nicholas Devlin released his judgment Wednesday in Edmonton, the city where the victims trained in the 1970s and frequently received inappropriate massages from their coach. 'The sexual touching during trackside massages constituted gross indecencies,' Devlin wrote. 'The acts were non-consensual, sexual in nature … done to minors, and caused discomfort, confusion, and even revulsion amongst the victims. Touching the anus and genital areas of teenage boys without true consent constitutes a serious infringement of sexual autonomy and can cause profound psychological harm.' Essential reading for hockey fans who eat, sleep, Canucks, repeat. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Devlin, though, acquitted Porter of five additional counts. Victim Chris Dallin raised the public alarm about this case in an investigative story by The Vancouver Sun. Forty years ago, he was a frightened boy who never thought anyone would believe him, and today is overwhelmingly relieved with the guilty verdicts. 'I'm really pleased that the judge believed what we had to say,' he said of the complainants who all suffered after the abuse. 'My life was filled with hope and with prospects, and I was very driven, and there was a lot of good in my life. And when that happened to me, it all changed. It all went dark.' The judge referred to Dallin as 'complainant zero' for going to the RCMP in 2007 to report Porter had sexually assaulted him in the late 1970s, although nothing happened at that time. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Following the Sun's story and an investigation by Athletics Canada, the governing body for track and field, Edmonton Police interviewed the complainants in 2019. Postmedia has reported that at least nine people have alleged abuse by Porter, many of them now living in B.C., but only four were the subject of charges at this trial. Chris Dallin with his track and field medal collection in 2019. Photo by Jason Payne / PNG When Dallin was 14, Porter recruited the promising young sprinter to the Edmonton Olympic club in 1977. Dallin testified that Porter, who was then 28, was considered 'the best track coach in Western Canada,' and that he trusted him, but as a teen also hated the 'constant touching,' including of his buttocks and genitals during trackside massages. Dallin also described Porter taking him to fine dining restaurants alone, buying food and alcohol. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Porter testified he never intended to touch the victims sexually, but the judge found him 'bereft of credibility.' He described Porter's evidence as a combination of 'contradictions, vacillations and absurdities.' Devlin concluded as 'fact' that as an adult, Porter was 'infatuated' with the high school student Dallin and had used his 'charm and verbal intelligence' to convince the teen not to report any wrongdoing. However, the judge acquitted Porter of two charges stemming from an incident in Saskatoon, for which Dallin got some dates and facts wrong due to the passage of time. A second witness, known only as J, started track at 15, joining the Edmonton Olympic club in the late 1970s. J testified he and two other teenage athletes had dinner at Porter's apartment, where the coach showed the boys pornographic magazines, something he found embarrassing. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Porter then asked J to put on a yellow thong so he could give him a private 'rub down,' or massage, during which the coach touched the athlete's anus several times. Porter recalled the magazines, but denied the thong. Devlin, though, concluded 'this was grooming behaviour intended to sexually arouse the boys,' and it was 'totally inappropriate.' Former Ottawa Lions Track and Field Club president and coach Ken Porter. Ottawa Lions Club A third witness known as K joined Edmonton Olympic in 1976 when he was 16. He said while they were alone in Porter's apartment, the adult coach gave the teen athlete a massage in his bedroom, while they were both naked, resulting in Porter ejaculating. K testified that he is gay and had initially desired this new experience, but after the encounter felt 'suddenly repulsed' by what happened. Devlin later described K as feeling 'exploited and preyed upon.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. While Porter denied this took place, Devlin ruled that he was 'satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt' that it did. Devlin acquitted Porter, though, of an allegation that he masturbated K while at a Calgary track meet, saying the evidence was too vague. Today, Dallin rejects any suggestion he is a hero for fighting for this case to be heard. 'All I did was tell the truth, because I felt like I had to. It was necessary to save others from him,' he said of Porter. Although it has taken four decades to get justice, Dallin said it has helped to heal a very difficult part of his life. '(Porter) was my ticket to be an Olympian. That was what I wanted. And so in my young mind, it was always all about trying to fix something that was inherently unfixable … It was so shameful and so embarrassing,' he said Wednesday. '(The verdict) makes things better because Ken, I think, is going to be taken off the street.' lculbert@ Read More Vancouver Canucks Vancouver Whitecaps News News News
CBC
2 days ago
- CBC
Former Edmonton track coach found guilty of historic sexual offences against teen athletes
Social Sharing WARNING: This article contains graphic details, and may affect those who have experienced sexual violence or know someone impacted by it. A former Edmonton track coach has been found guilty of historical sexual offences against three teenage boys he mentored and trained in the 1970s. In a decision Tuesday, a judge found that Thomas Kenneth Porter, known as Ken Porter, sexually touched the teens for his own gratification under the guise of athletic massages. Court of King's Bench Justice Nicholas Devlin also found that Porter, now 76, sexually touched two of the teenagers in separate incidents at his apartment. One of those involved a time where he invited boys over for dinner, then showed them pornography in what the judge determined was an effort to groom them. Porter then offered them "rubdowns" — his term for the track-side massages he gave young athletes. The former coach watched the decision remotely from his lawyer's office in Ottawa. He remains on bail pending his sentence, which will be set at a later date. The complainants, who were 15 to 17 years old when they trained with Porter, testified that his massages progressed from rubbing their legs to moving up their bodies and touching their buttocks, genitals and anus. Porter's conduct "constituted an exploitation or perversion of contact by a trusted adult," Devlin said. "It caused discomfort, confusion and even revulsion among the victims." Devlin concluded that Porter is guilty of two counts of indecent assault and three counts of gross indecency — charges under the Criminal Code at the time of the allegations, from 1976 to 1980. Devlin found Porter not guilty on the five other charges he faced, including each of the charges laid in relation to one of the complainants. Porter initially faced more than a dozen charges related to five men who were his former trainees. The counts related to one of them were later withdrawn. Each of the men's identities is protected by a publication ban, except for Chris Dallin, who asked the court to lift the ban on his name. He was the first to report his experiences with Porter to police in 2007. Almost 20 years later — and close to 50 years after he first started training with Porter as a 14-year-old boy — Dallin said Tuesday that he wanted to make sure Porter could never be in a situation where he was close to boys or young men again. He said it's also important to him to tell his own story. "I no longer have any shame about this," he said. "I want people to understand that it's OK to kind of go through this." Inappropriate contact during massages One of the men who testified described a dinner party he attended with some other teenage athletes, while Porter was the only adult. The coach served pecan pie and passed around pornographic magazines he said he got in Europe. In Devlin's decision, he said Porter acknowledged those events, but the former coach said he now views it as wrong to show the teens the pornography. Devlin found Porter guilty of gross indecency and indecent assault for a massage that the complainant described happening after dinner, where Porter had him change into a yellow thong, then massaged his legs and buttocks and touched his anus. Devlin also determined that Porter sexually touched another teenager who testified that at first, he felt excited by Porter's physical attention, as a young person in the process of discovering his sexuality. But the man told the court that after one massage where Porter touched his genitals, he felt repulsed, and had a physical reaction. Later in life, he struggled with drug and alcohol dependency. The criminal case came after reports of sexual misconduct prompted Athletics Canada to commission former Ontario ombudsman André Marin in 2019 for an independent investigation. When Marin's report was finished, Porter was fired as chair of the Ottawa Lions track and field club and issued a lifetime ban by Athletics Canada. Devlin's decision says that investigation triggered extensive communication between the complainants in the criminal case, who knew each other from their time as young athletes. "Astonishingly, Mr. Marin encouraged them to reach out to each other," Devlin said. That, in addition to other exposure to each other's stories, led to questions during the trial about how they may have influenced each other's memories. Devlin said that was an issue that led to the not guilty decision on all three charges related to a third complainant. While he credited that man for being open and honest in his testimony, Devlin said he couldn't be sure the memories came from sources "other than true recall," adding up to reasonable doubt. Coach was 'infatuated' with teenage boy, judge finds The judge also acquitted Porter of two charges from an incident where Dallin alleged the coach sexually assaulted him in a Saskatoon hotel room. Dallin testified he was 15 at the time, and among a group of athletes travelling with Porter for a track meet. He said he was supposed to room with another teen, but Porter told him that he'd be staying with him instead. During the night, Dallin described having a nightmare that Porter was performing oral sex on him, then woke up to find it was actually happening. But inconsistencies in some of the evidence presented during the trial and Dallin's recollection ended with the judge saying he wasn't certain enough for a conviction. "Given I am sure Mr. Porter sexually touched [Dallin] for his gratification … I find it likely he did make an unwanted sexual advance. It probably happened much the way [Dallin] described," Devlin said. "I do not disbelieve [Dallin]. But I cannot be sure it happened when, where and how it was described." But when it came to Porter's explanation of reported sexual contact with Dallin during massages, the judge said the former coach's "shifting, self-serving, almost desperate evidence … leaves Mr. Porter bereft of credibility." Devlin found that the coach was "infatuated" with the teenage Dallin. "His massages sometimes caused erections and it happened frequently enough he had thought about how to deal with it," Devlin said. "His evidence demonstrates Mr. Porter was not concerned at all with sexually arousing the teenage boys he was laying hands on." Dallin said he was disappointed Porter was found not guilty in the hotel incident. But he's pleased how everyone involved in the case took it seriously. "I've been through counselling and I've kind of come out the other end, and I'm feeling pretty good about my life right now," he said in an interview. "But boy, there was sure a lot of time as a young man that I was very, very mixed up and had a lot of problems associated with what happened to me as a result of that trauma." Dallin said he wants others to know it's OK to talk about experiences like his, even though they might feel embarrassed or uncertain. "Kids, young people need a few people out there who show the way, say, 'This guy's OK, and he went through something traumatic as well, and he seems perfectly willing to talk about it, even though it's difficult."
