‘Shame on you’: High school football coach gets 20 years for sex assaults on students

WINNIPEG, MANITOBA, CANADA — A former Winnipeg high school football coach who groomed and sexually abused nine players was sentenced to 20 years in prison Monday.

Kelsey McKay, 54, was led out in handcuffs after provincial court judge Ray Wyant delivered his sentence. At times, the judge’s voice cracked with emotion as he detailed the effects on the victims.

“Like a killer, Mr. McKay murdered part of their soul and their being, and in no way can Mr. McKay ever repay that debt,” Wyant said.

“You took advantage of young, vulnerable children for your own self and your own selfish satisfaction.

“Shame on you, Mr. McKay. Shame on you.”

The victims, who cannot be named under a court order, ranged in age from 12 to 18 when the assaults happened between 2003 and 2016.

Court was told McKay was considered a father figure to the boys — a coach and physical education teacher who could win games and championships.

He coached at two high schools and held a powerful position in the football community. He would message boys repeatedly and invite them over to his house, where he lived alone. In many cases, he supplied them with alcohol and pornography.

He paid special attention to boys with difficult home lives or absent parents, according to an agreed statement of facts between the Crown and defence.

McKay kept reaching out to at least one victim until the day of his arrest in 2022.

One victim died by suicide shortly after the arrest. The man’s sister, in a victim impact statement in the spring, said she has been numb since the death.

Another victim told the court he struggles with suicide ideation and drug and alcohol abuse.

McKay apologized in court in March and said he had betrayed the trust placed in him.

The Crown asked for a 25-year sentence while the defence sought 13 years and three months.

Wyant settled on a total of 20 years, with consecutive sentences on all the sexual assault charges and concurrent sentences for the luring charges.

The judge cited several aggravating factors such as McKay’s position of trust, his high degree of moral blameworthiness and the ongoing impact on the victims.

“There is actual harm demonstrated — lifelong, life-altering, catastrophic harm,” Wyant said.

A mitigating factor is that McKay, who had no prior criminal record, pleaded guilty, Wyant added. In the end, the sentence must fit the crimes committed and the degree of responsibility of the offender, he said.

“If our criminal law was based on vengeance, an appropriate sentence for your crimes would be one of life … but as I said much earlier, we don’t operate our criminal justice system that way.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 7, 2024.