Canada spends millions on safe sport. It's not going where it's needed

This story is part of a continuing investigation by CBC News and Sports into abuse in amateur sport in Canada. Read all of the reporting here.

Canada's sports system remains in a crisis — at a breaking point even — as parents, sports organizations and officials at all levels continue to struggle with keeping players safe from abuse. 

It's been four years since a CBC News and Sports investigation revealed more than 200 coaches — mostly at the local level — had been charged with a sexual offence against athletes under their care since 1998. Since then, CBC has found 83 other coaches have been charged or convicted across multiple sports, provinces and jurisdictions. 

Experts say those charged — which include a tennis coach in Toronto, a figure skating coach in St. John's, a trio of basketball coaches in Montreal and a football coach in Winnipeg — likely represent only a fraction of what is occurring.

"The world of sport in general is still in crisis, because we are still hearing about the stories of abuse and maltreatment and I don't think it's the end of it," Sport Minister Pascale St-Onge told CBC.

Among the recent allegations — on July 12, 2022, police charged 33-year-old Jamie Ellacott with sexually assaulting a seven-year-old girl at the Lethbridge Gymnastics Academy, which he owned and operated with his wife. Ellacott had spent nearly a decade working in gyms across Alberta.

"From the parent's side of things, I know a lot of people were shocked and horrified," said Lindsay Vandergouwe, who had only recently enrolled her four-year-old daughter in classes at the club. 

"Our initial thing was, 'Oh God, what's going to happen next?' Because there will be more. Our initial thought was if this is the first kid who's