Calgary police have charged a 50-year-old high school sports coach with sexual offenses after allegations that prompted a week-long investigation.

The Calgary Police Service (CPS) Child Abuse Unit began looking into allegations of sexual impropriety after receiving a report on May 12.

The report indicated that a minor had been sexually assaulted over two years by a volunteer coach at Henry Wise Wood High School in southwest Calgary.

According to police, the suspect met the victim when she was 15, and he allegedly used his position of trust to groom the victim before the assaults started. Police said the victim had contact with the suspect through school and through extracurricular activities.

Drew Alan Robertson, 50, of Calgary, is facing one charge of sexual assault, one charge of sexual exploitation, and making sexually explicit material available to children.

“The accused was the coach of a high school sports team,” said Staff Sgt. Chris Tudor with the Child Abuse Unit.  

“Everybody from the school to the players and the parents of those players trusted him to coach and mentor their students and their children, and the accused took advantage of that position to take advantage of one of his players.”

S/Sgt. Tudor commented on a video that had circulated among a parent group, though he said it was only loosely related to their investigation.

“We are aware of a video, it was inappropriate and sexual in nature, of one individual male that had been shared with a parent student group chat of the high school that didn’t really form part of our investigation, but it did lead to the beginning of the investigation,” he said.

The video surfacing in the parent group is being investigated by the school resource officer, Tudor said.

Tudor said that while the investigation is only a week old, they received “valuable information early on,” including from search warrants that led them to be able to lay charges early on.

The community plays a role in keeping kids safe: Luna

Karen Orser, CEO of the Luna Child and Youth Advocacy Centre, said that these situations are difficult every time they surface.

“Unfortunately, this is the work that we do, and we always need to take the opportunity again to remind the community of the role everyone plays in keeping children safe – teachers, mentors, coaches, other students,” she said.

“If you suspect abuse, if your Spidey sense, or you have a gut instinct, it really is important that we encourage kids to speak to trusted adults, that as adults and parents we are listening to our gut instinct and paying attention.”

She said grooming situations can happen over long periods of time and oftentimes go unnoticed by the victim.

“If people, or parents, caregivers are noticing inappropriate texts, favoritism, just things that normally you wouldn’t expect from someone in a position of power, we want you to listen to your instinct and talk to somebody about that,” Orser said.

“We can never assume that children and youth understand what healthy relationships look like. Boundaries, consent, grooming – these are all topics that we need to continue to talk about in schools, around the dinner table with our friends and family.”

S/Sgt. Tudor said that they encourage any other students who may have information on the case to come forward, though at this moment, CPS is not aware of any additional victims.

Anyone with additional information can call Calgary police at 403-266-1234.

More resources for parents or other caregivers can be found at www.lunacentre.ca.