Former Vernon hockey coach convicted, jailed on Friday, released Monday

A former hockey coach and Vernon businessman who was sentenced to almost two years in jail on Friday for sexually assaulting a teenage girl two decades earlier only spent the weekend in prison before being released on Monday.

Keith Gordon Grant Chase, born 1967, was granted bail Oct. 31, after filing an appeal of his conviction.

Chase filed the appeal Oct. 28, the very same day he was sentenced to 23 months in jail for sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl who was sleeping over at his house the night before a hockey tournament roughly 20 years ago.

Chase will remain in the community as his file passes through to the B.C. Court of Appeal, a process that will likely stretch throughout the majority of next year.

According to court documents, Chase is appealing his conviction and asking for it to be quashed and a new trial ordered.

Chase is arguing that B.C. Supreme Court Justice Gary Weatherill made errors by failing to give weight to the inconsistencies between the teenage girl's testimony during the trial and an earlier statement she made to the police.

Chase was convicted of the sexual assault in March following a six-day trial.

At the time, Justice Weatherill had said that some of the teen's testimony didn't match that of an earlier statement given to police, but he still found her to be a credible witness.

In contrast, the Justice called some of Chase's testimony "implausible."

Chase, who owns Chasers Bottle Depot, had coached hockey for 30 years and was awarded the SportBC Community Sport Hero Award in 2015 for his service to the game.

The teen who he sexually assaulted was the daughter of close family friends and was staying over at Chase's home the night before a playoff game sometime in the early 2000s.

While the teen was in bed, Chase had put his hands under her clothes and sexually assaulted her.

Chase disputed this at trial, saying the sexual encounter was consensual and the teen initiated it and was a willing participant.

However, the Justice didn't agree and said Chase failed to take reasonable steps to ascertain consent.

Justice Weatherill said Chase acted with "willful blindness, callous indifference and recklessness as to whether (the victim) was actually consenting to sexual activities."

At sentencing, Chase had provided almost two dozen letters of reference that described him as being a "family man" and of "good character."

The Crown prosecutor pointed out that it was Chase's status in the community as a "family man" that allowed him access to the teen in the first place.

The court heard the teenage girl started drinking heavily after the sexual assault, gave up on her dream of playing for Team Canada and later dropped out of university.

She later returned to school, married and had children and has a successful career.

Chase will next be in court May 2023, for a routine appearance.

READ MORE: Man could be jailed for 8 years for drug trafficking at luxury lakeside Vernon condo

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