Alleged victim of coach's sex abuse dies
Last Updated: Tuesday, December 15, 2009 | 7:02 PM PT
CBC News
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Hockey coach Dusan Benicky was charged with sexual assault involving a player who has now died. (hockeyperformancecentre.com)A man who accused a North Vancouver hockey coach of years of sexual abuse has died in circumstances police say do not appear suspicious.
The 28-year-old man went to police in May to level the accusations against Dusan Benicky, who was charged Dec. 2 with seven charges of sexual assault and sexual interference.
The identity of the complainant and the facts surrounding his death have not been released. North Vancouver RCMP said they do not suspect foul play.
The man told police that Benicky, 56, started assaulting him in 1991, when he was 10 years old and a player on a team Benicky coached in North Vancouver. The abuse continued until he was 14, the man said.
Benicky immediately denied the charges, calling them fabricated, nonsense and untrue.
It is not yet known whether the Crown will proceed with the charges now that Benicky's accuser has died.
Benicky founded the Hockey Performance Centre in North Vancouver, which runs hockey camps. His online resumé also said he was a conditioning trainer and had worked with professional hockey players, University of B.C. athletes, Team Slovakia at the 1996 World Cup of Hockey and the Czech national team at the 1998 Nagano Olympics.
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