Beach 'courageous', says mother of high school player assaulted by Aldrich

TSN Senior Correspondent

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The mother of a former high school hockey player who was sexually assaulted by one-time Chicago Blackhawks video coach Brad Aldrich says she was overcome with emotion watching Kyle Beach apologize to her son and thank him for filing a police complaint against Aldrich.

Beach, a former Blackhawks player, said in an Oct. 27 interview with TSN that he was sorry he “didn’t do more” to make sure Aldrich was held accountable after telling Blackhawks management in the spring of 2010 that Aldrich abused him.

The Blackhawks allowed Aldrich to remain with the NHL team for three weeks en route to winning the Stanley Cup after learning of the allegations. He was permitted to resign on his own terms and was given a day with the Stanley Cup.

Three years later, Aldrich took up a volunteer coaching position with a high school team in Houghton, Mich. A 16-year-old player, known in court filings as “John Doe 2,” reported to police in 2013 that he'd been sexually assaulted by Aldrich, who pleaded guilty and was sentenced in early 2014 to nine months in jail.

John Doe 2’s mother said she was overwhelmed watching Beach’s interview.

“I just wanted to reach through and hold him…,” she said during a series of interviews with TSN over the past week. “I just wanted to tell him that everything is going to be okay, it’s got to be okay. He’s not at fault for this at all, not at all. He’s a survivor, like my son. Yes, they were victims, but they’re surviving now. And he is so courageous, and we admire him… I just wanted to hold him like I held my son. And tell him I’m sorry. It didn’t have to happen.”

During a press conference last week to discuss Beach’s decision to go public and the Blackhawks’ cover up,