Figure skating coach accused of sex crimes, trading Snapchat nudes with teen girls

A Supreme Court trial of a figure skating coach who's been accused of sexual crimes against minors started with police testimony Wednesday, as a Royal Newfoundland Constabulary officer told the court she believed the accused had been sending sexually explicit material to underage complainants over Snapchat.

Matthew Power, 29, was teaching the sport to teenage girls in the metro St. John's area when he was arrested in 2021. He's facing several charges, including sexual assault, making sexual material available to a minor, child luring and sexual interference.

Power appeared calm in the St. John's court dock Wednesday, taking notes as prosecutor Nicole Hurley examined the officer on the stand who led the investigation against him.

Const. Amanda Harnum said Power allegedly exchanged sexual messages with the first underage complainant over Snapchat. What police say are copies of those messages were submitted to court as evidence — 27 photographs in total of messages exchanged on the popular social media app, taken with another cellphone.

They include references to oral sex and requests for sexual photographs. The complainant has also said Power suggested picking her up at night when she was home alone.

One of the messages was a photo of Power's face, Harnum said, with the text, "I've been told I'm really good with my tongue." Another message read, "and once I start I don't stop till I'm done," she testified.

The RNC got involved after the complainant's mother, who can't be named due to a publication ban on the identities of the complainants and civilian witnesses, submitted copies of the messages to the RNC.

Power was between the ages of 26 and 28 when he supposedly sent those messages to the first complainant, Harnum said,