'Shame on you,' judge tells former Winnipeg high school football coach sentenced to 20 years for sexual abuse

WARNING | This story contains details of abuse.

A disgraced former high school football coach was taken into custody Monday afternoon in front of a Winnipeg courtroom packed with supporters of his victims, after being sentenced to 20 years in prison for sexually abusing nine players over more than a decade.

People wiped tears from their eyes and embraced after Kelsey McKay's sentence was handed down by provincial court Judge Raymond Wyant, whose voice was heavy with emotion as he delivered his decision.

"From the bottom of my heart, what happened to you was not your fault," Wyant said as he addressed McKay's victims and their supporters, including the family of a man who court heard died by suicide months after coming forward to police in 2022.

"The guilt lies squarely on the shoulders of Mr. McKay. You were children. You were guiltless. You put your faith in the hands of someone you saw as a friend, as a mentor, as a teacher, as a coach, as someone larger than life to you."

The decision comes more than six months after lawyers made sentencing arguments in McKay's case — a delay the judge attributed to how much the details of the case weighed on him.

Addressing McKay directly, Wyant said he wanted to take the time to ensure the sentence, which was his last before retirement, wasn't clouded by the "abject anger that your violation of these kids had on me."

"You used vulnerability to your advantage in your twisted game. Shame on you, Mr. McKay — shame on you," Wyant told him. "Mr. McKay abused children for his own gratification. There is no excuse for what he has done and there is no cure for the havoc he wreaked."

WATCH | Former Winnipeg high school football coach sentenced for sexually abusing players:

McKay, now