WARNING: This story includes a reference to self-harm.
A former Manitoba hockey coach who admitted to luring and sexually assaulting a teenage player on her team was taken into custody Monday to begin serving a six-year prison sentence.
Madison Biluk, 31, was charged in 2023 for abuse court heard happened between October 2019 and February 2021, when she groomed and sexually exploited a player on her team. She pleaded guilty in 2024.
Biluk was between 24 and 26 years old at the time of the offences, while the player was 15 and 16, court previously heard. The player’s identity is protected by a court-ordered publication ban.
Manitoba provincial court Judge Jerilee Ryle said Monday morning she found Biluk groomed the victim through frequent personal messages and blurred professional boundaries. Biluk used her position of authority as a coach, as well as what she knew about the girl’s mental health and past trauma, to draw her into an exploitative relationship, Ryle said.
“The offending was not a one-time lapse in judgment. It persisted for 16 months and was carried out through secrecy, deception and repeated violations of the victim,” the judge said in a Winnipeg courtroom, as Biluk sat before her and at one point cried while the judge read from her sentencing decision.
“Parents, players and coaches rely on the belief that youth sports are safe environments. When a person in a position of authority abuses that trust, the entire community feels the consequences through fear, loss of confidence in institutions and concern that similar harm could happen to other young people.”
In a victim impact statement previously read in court, the player wrote that what happened had a “severe” emotional impact on her life, leaving her with low self-worth, persistent mistrust, depression and anxiety that caused her to lose jobs and weakened her relationships with other people. Court heard the girl has attempted suicide twice.
Biluk’s six-year sentence was the result of a joint recommendation that Crown attorneys and defence lawyers made to court in January.
The former hockey coach remained out of custody until Monday amid several delays in getting to a sentencing decision. The most recent was last month, when Biluk’s lawyer requested a delay to give her time to complete rehabilitation after getting surgery and to get a medical diagnosis for her celiac disease, so she can get appropriate food in prison.
Court heard Biluk was assessed as being a moderate to moderate-high risk to reoffend in situations like the one that led to her conviction, where she was in a position of trust with mid-teenage girls.
Biluk, who wore a T-shirt and shorts and carried a backpack with her into court Monday, was joined by supporters who yelled out that they loved her as she was taken into custody after her sentence was handed down.
Judge Ryle said Monday that because Manitoba has no federal institution for women, prison sentences for women must be served outside the province, “and often away from their family and supports.”
“It is my hope that the accused will make full use of the supports available to her while in the federal institution, in order to further her insight, strengthen her accountability and continue her rehabilitation, to ensure she does not repeat this behaviour,” Ryle said.
Biluk was also given a number of conditions to abide by for varying lengths of time, including registering as a sex offender, not contacting the victim while serving her sentence, not working or volunteering in a position of trust with people under 16, and not using Snapchat.
Court previously heard Biluk’s relationship with the player started with driving her to practices and taking her skating, but later involved late-night calls and private messages on Snapchat that included explicit photographs, as well as personal discussions about sex and relationships.
Biluk at one point told the player they shouldn’t pursue a relationship because she was her coach, but her behaviour quickly escalated and soon involved taking intimate and nude videos and photos with the girl, and kissing and touching the player sexually, court heard.
When she was given the chance to speak in court earlier this year, Biluk apologized to the player for the harm she caused, and to everyone else affected by what she did.
While Biluk is no longer coaching, she coached hockey from 2019 through 2023, and during that time drew concerns on several occasions from coaching staff who said her behaviour went beyond the professional coach-player relationship, prosecutors previously said. Those concerns resulted in several warnings but did not curb her behaviour.
After her contact with the player involved in the criminal proceedings ended, Biluk continued coaching in Alberta and Manitoba, where her behaviour again raised concerns about inappropriate boundaries with players.
While there were investigations into her behaviour in both provinces, no further charges were pursued, court heard.
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