Former Clearwater coach facing eight years in prison for historic indecent assaults

KAMLOOPS – The former coach and auxiliary police officer who sexually assaulted several young boys in the B.C. Interior decades ago could be sentenced to up to eight years in prison.

Alan Davidson was convicted earlier this year on five counts of indecent assault against a male. All of the incidents happened in the late 1970s to early 1980s.

In Kamloops Supreme Court today, April 6, Crown prosecutor Alex Janse asked for a prison sentence of eight years, while Davidson's defence lawyer John Gustafson argued for a conditional sentence.

Kamloops Supreme Court Justice Sheri Donegan reserved her decision. All parties will be back in court April 16 to schedule a date to hear Donegan's sentencing decision.

Donegan handed down the guilty verdict against Davidson in December 2017, following a three-week trial where several victims testified. Many of the now adult men were young teenagers at the time of the offences.

During the time when the offences took place, the age of consent in Canada was 14 years old. 

Davidson was convicted of indecent assault against a 13-year-old boy he coached in Clearwater in 1976. He was staying with the boy's family at the time. During the trial, court heard Davidson slept in the teenager's bed and one night Davidson fondled the victim and performed oral sex without his consent.

None of the complainants in the case can be identified due to a mandatory court-ordered publication ban which protects the identity of sexual assault victims.

Other victims who testified at trial detailed Davidson would take them on road trips where he would engage in sexual activities with the young boys.

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