Avalon Minor Hockey to be sued over allegations of sex abuse by coach

The Avalon Minor Hockey Association is going to be sued over allegations of sexual abuse by a coach.

It's alleged that in 1986, the coach sexually abused a young hockey player on two occasions, when the team was out of the province for a tournament.

No specifics of the alleged abuse are given, and the coach is not named in an application filed with the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador in St. John's.

In the application, the complainant asks the court to ban the publication of his name and allow him to use the pseudonym John Doe in court proceedings to protect his privacy.

He argues the publicity the case will generate could worsen the social and psychiatric problems he is already dealing with.

The man and his lawyer say the Avalon Minor Hockey Association is liable because it had authority over its volunteers, including the coach.

CBC contacted the association about the application. But the executive had no comment, saying it has not been officially made aware of the impending lawsuit.

The actual statement of claim, which will lay out the case in greater detail, hasn't been filed.

The John Doe application will be heard next week.