WARNING: This story contains references to suicide.
A former Manitoba hockey coach who pleaded guilty in 2024 to luring and sexually assaulting a teenage player should be sent to prison for six years, lawyers say.
“This is a case about the deep illegality and harmfulness of sex crimes against a child,” Crown attorney Larissa Campbell told Judge Jerilee Ryle during a sentencing hearing for Madison Biluk in a Winnipeg courtroom Thursday, where the prosecution and defense jointly recommended a six-year sentence.
“This is also a sentence about choices – choices made by the accused which have had and will continue to have a profound effect on the victim.”
Biluk, now 31, was charged in November 2023 with abuse heard in court between October 2019 and February 2021, when she groomed and sexually exploited a player on her team.
Biluk was between 24 and 26 at the time, while the player was 15 and 16, a statement of facts read in court said. The player’s identity is protected by a court-ordered publication ban.
The court heard that Biluk’s relationship with the player began with driving her to practice and taking her skating, but later involved late-night calls and private Snapchat messages that included explicit photos, as well as personal discussions about sex and relationships.
Biluk at one point told the player she shouldn’t pursue a relationship because she was her coach, but her behavior quickly escalated and soon involved making intimate and nude videos and photos of the girl and kissing and sexually touching the player, the agreed statement of facts said.
In a victim impact statement read by Campbell in court, the player said what happened had a “severe” emotional impact on her life, leaving her with low self-worth, persistent self-doubt, depression and anxiety that caused her to lose jobs and weakened her relationships with other people.
The player also said the cost of therapy “has taken a huge toll” on her family’s finances and added that she worries about meeting Biluk.
“I’m afraid of large public spaces for fear of seeing her or maybe someone I know,” the statement said.
“I feel anxious when I see someone who looks like her.”
Fake Snapchat account
By the spring of 2020, the girl no longer wanted to be in a relationship with Biluk, but continued to meet with her to engage sexually, which Campbell said the teenager “was emotionally attached to the accused and felt that this was the only way to keep. [her] in her life”.
When the girl began to move on and pursue relationships with people closer to her own age, the court heard Biluk created a fake Snapchat account to send disparaging comments about the teenager’s new girlfriend to the teenager’s other friends.
The court heard that Biluk and the player had ceased all contact until February 2021. But the teenager, who told Biluk she was depressed and had been sexually abused by a trusted adult, continued to fight.
Biluk is shown in a 2024 file photo outside a Winnipeg courthouse. (CBC)
This led to a suicide attempt in early February 2023. The court heard that around that time, the girl called Biluk for help “and suggested that the accused played a role in her mental health,” Campbell said. About a week later, the girl arrived at the Crisis Response Center following another suicide attempt.
Biluk’s lawyer said Thursday that his client feels great remorse and never intended to hurt the girl, telling the judge that the situation “turned from initially altruistic desires into something that unfortunately turned criminal.”
Promise to “redo”
When given the chance to speak in court, Biluk apologized to the player for the harm he caused him and to everyone else affected by what he did.
“I’m going to continue to try to get better every day and make amends as I can,” said Biluk, who sat in the courtroom gallery with her family during sentencing arguments.
The abuse came to light after the girl posted a TikTok video in October 2023 detailing her experience with Biluk. The video came to the attention of the police.
The teenager later shared with police a number of photos and videos of her and Biluk together, as well as messages in which Biluk referred to their relationship as “one of the riskiest things in my life”.
After her arrest, Biluk said she still cared about the player but was shocked by the TikTok video the teenager posted. Biluk described the girl as a “pathological liar,” the agreed facts said.
Biluk, who appeared in court on Thursday with her right arm in a sling, is expected to return to court to be sentenced and remanded in custody at the end of March after scheduled surgery is completed, the court heard. She is no longer training and remains on bail under conditions.
The court heard that Biluk coached hockey from 2019 to 2023 and during that time drew concerns several times from the coaching staff, who said her behavior went beyond a professional coach-player relationship, Campbell said. These concerns led to several warnings, but did not stop his behavior.
After her contact with the player ended, Biluk continued to coach in Alberta and Manitoba, where her behavior again raised concerns about inappropriate boundaries with players.
While there were investigations into her behavior in both provinces, no further charges were pursued, Campbell said.
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