Bertrand Charest case: 9th alleged victim comes forward

Another woman has come forward with allegations of sexual abuse against Bertrand Charest, the former coach of the national and Quebec ski teams charged earlier this week in alleged incidents involving eight minor-age athletes 20 years ago.

Charest was arrested and charged earlier this week with 47 counts of sexual assault and sexual harassment related to incidents that allegedly occurred between 1991 and 1998.

Police in Mont-Tremblant, Que., said today a ninth potential victim has come forward.

"We had multiple [pieces of] information that came to us at the police station, but we had one new victim that came forward and decided to press charges against him, for the same period, between '90 and '98," Mont-Tremblant police spokesperson Eric Cadotte told CBC News.

Cadotte said it will be up to prosecutors to decide whether the new allegations warrant new charges.

Alpine Canada responds

Canada's sports organization for alpine skiing released a statement Thursday, saying it is looking into the sexual assault charges against Charest.

"We are following this situation very closely," Alpine Canada said. "Out of respect for the court process, we will not be making any other comments."

• Former junior ski coach faces sex abuse charges
• Bertrand Charest faces 47 charges, as an alleged victim speaks out
• Bertrand Charest case: 'Manipulative' coach banned boyfriends, claims B.C. woman

Charest is a former coach with the Canadian national junior ski team, Team Quebec, Team Laurentians and the Mont Tremblant ski team. According to an online profile, he was also a manager for the Canadian national women's ski team from 1995 to 1998. 

The initial eight alleged victims were junior athletes at the time the alleged incidents took place.

Victim speaks to CBC's The Current

Charest was arrested after one woman came forward, nearly 20 years after the alleged abuse is said to have begun.

CBC News cannot identify the woman because of a publication ban.

What did it for me is that I found out at the beginning of the winter that he was coaching again.- alleged victim of abuse

She alleged Charest began touching her and making inappropriate comments when she was 13 and that he began sexually abusing her when she was 15. 

She decided to come forward after discovering Charest was teaching children to ski at Mont Blanc, in Quebec's Laurentian mountains.

He has since been suspended from his job as a ski instructor there.

"What did it for me is that I found out at the beginning of the winter that he was coaching again, a group of U12, so under 12 — 10 and 11 year olds. I couldn’t bear the idea of little girls going through what I went through in the '90s, so I decided to do something about it," the alleged victim told The Current on Thursday.