A former Canadian hockey coach convicted of sexually assaulting a teenage boy has been returned to jail after reaching out to his victim on Facebook.

Bernard ‘Bernie’ Lynch, 71, a former junior hockey coach in Regina, Saskatchewan, was sentenced to three years in prison in January 2024 for the sexual and physical assault of a 17-year-old boy who had stayed at his apartment in 1988.

Less than a month after Lynch was granted day parole, he was taken back to prison for sending a friend request to the now-adult victim, as per parole board documents acquired by CBC News.

The victim revealed that Lynch had sent him the request in May, an act Lynch initially claimed was accidental. 

The coach later admitted to monitoring his victim’s Facebook profile for the past six months, claiming he had been told the victim was deliberately posting slanderous content about him online. 

Lynch’s excuse didn’t convince the parole board, and he was arrested the same day the victim’s complaint was filed. 

‘It is evident the tremendous and long-term negative consequences your actions had on the victim,’ the documents read.

‘The victim was in the prime of his young hockey life in which the potential of what might have been was never able to be fully realized,’ they added.

In August 1988, Lynch was serving as an assistant coach for the Western Hockey League’s Regina Pats, while his unidentified victim was attending hockey school.

At the time, the victim was staying at Lynch’s apartment, where the coach held ‘a position of trust and authority’ over the vulnerable teenager, the parole board said.

‘You pressured the victim to drink alcohol, pressured him to take off his clothes, and then sexually assaulted him in a shower,’ the documents stated. ‘The following day, you assaulted him physically.’

The victim came forward with the assault allegations in 2021, leading to a two-year trial during which testimonies from both the victim and the defense were heard.

In December 2023, a judge found Lynch guilty, highlighting how he exploited the culture of silence that pervaded the hockey league at the time. 

On the day of the final verdict, the victim testified that Lynch had struck him in the testicles with a ring of keys after a day at hockey camp, where the victim was assisting with instruction, Global News reported.

The judge explained that Lynch’s actions were premeditated, specifically pointing to the deliberate pressure he exerted on the victim to drink alcohol, strip his clothing and rent an adult movie while in his care.

The judge further described it as a crime of opportunity, emphasizing how he persuaded the teenage boy to shower as a way to sober up, only to follow him with ulterior motives. 

Because Lynch had no prior criminal record and demonstrated appropriate behavior while incarcerated, he was granted day parole for the first time in September 2024. 

His parole conditions included no direct contact with the victim, avoiding the presence of any male children under 18, participation in a treatment program, and staying away from places where teenagers commonly gather.

Within the first five weeks of his parole, while residing at a community-based residential facility, staff grew concerned that Lynch had developed an unhealthy fixation on a younger offender living in the same building and his parole was suspended.

The parole board noted that this behavior made fellow residents feel ‘uncomfortable’ and included invading personal space, asking intrusive, sexually charged questions, and initiating conversations about male genitalia. 

In a review dated April 30, 2025, Lynch was noted as having made positive strides during the first four months of his supervised release, which led to him being granted increased privileges. 

Less than a month later, Lynch violated his parole conditions by attempting to contact his victim through Facebook.

Lynch initially claimed he had been researching former hockey associates on Facebook for a book he was writing, and said he came across the victim’s profile as a mutual friend – insisting he didn’t believe he had actually sent a friend request. 

Later, Lynch claimed that former associates had told him the victim was slandering his character on the internet.

In the document, the board portrayed Lynch as repeatedly casting himself as the victim, frequently asserting that he suffers from PTSD as a result of his own childhood abuse. 

Despite the violations, the Correctional Service of Canada recommended Lynch be released again, this time under stricter conditions, including enhanced monitoring of his phone calls, messaging activity and internet use. 

However, the board ultimately concluded that even with those additional safeguards in place, Lynch still posed too significant a risk to the community.