Arrest of coach on luring charges 'a nightmare' for Quebec City hockey league

The president of a Quebec City minor hockey league is speaking out following the arrest of a 25-year-old coach on sexual luring charges.

"It's our fear to have something like this slip through the cracks. It's a nightmare," said Lucien-Pierre Bouchard, president of the Association de Hockey Québec-Centre.

"We have about 350 volunteers in all. We make every effort to filter people. We have a verification process in place to perform criminal background checks with Quebec City police and we systematically verify everyone."

Kevin Pinard-Bédard, 25, was arrested last week following a police investigation. The midget- and junior-level coach is accused of luring young teenagers using social media.

The league says its verification system did not reveal anything abnormal about Pinard-Bédard, who had volunteered with the hockey organization for several years.

​On the day of his arrest, Pinard-Bédard was fired from the Association de Hockey Quebec-Centre (HQC) where he volunteered as an assistant coach at the midget level (15- to 18-year-olds) and worked in a paid role as head coach at the junior level (18- to 21-year-olds).

"We have no room to maneuver, you have to react right away," said Bouchard, who also met with the players' parents after the arrest.

The league president also says none of the alleged criminal acts were committed in hockey arenas.