Ontario gymnastics clubs should have known about coach investigation, critic says

Allegations against a gymnastics coach facing numerous counts of sexual assault and other sexual offences were first brought before Gymnastics Ontario in October 2021, some 16 months before he was charged and the public was informed.

Ben Cooper, 27, of Toronto, faces multiple charges involving teenagers between the ages of 14 and 17 that spanned eight years between 2014 and 2022.

Cooper was employed with gyms in both Ottawa and Kingston, Ont., until 2021, but Ottawa police allege the sexual offences continued into 2022 and took place during his coaching duties and after hours.

None of the allegations against Cooper has been proven in court.

Gymnastics Ontario CEO Dave Sandford said they were first informed about allegations against Cooper in October 2021, a month after he last worked at Trillium Gymnastics in Kingston, Ont.

After formal complaints were launched in March 2022, Gymnastics Ontario launched their own investigation in April 2022 and notified Cooper he was suspended from coaching in the interim.

Sandford says police were notified that same month. 

"We had two complainants participating in our disciplinary complaints process. At around the same time as when the announcement was made, two other individuals came forward with very serious allegations, at which point I reached out to Ottawa police," Sandford told CBC.

While Trillium and the Ottawa Gymnastics Centre, where Cooper coached from 2014 to 2019, were made aware of the investigation and the suspension, other clubs were not informed.

"In any process you want to maintain the integrity and the confidentiality of it both for the victims or the complainants and or the respondent," he said.

Sandford said Gymnastics Ontario monitored Cooper through its membership