A Powell River, B.C., youth is suing his dead soccer coach’s estate, a Christian youth group, a soccer association and a church for alleged sexual abuse.
In a B.C. Supreme Court notice of civil claim filed Dec. 21, the youth, known as A.B., claims he was about 13 yeas old in 2020 when he was exposed to Zachary Gebhart, a church youth leader. Named as defendants in the case are Gebhart, Young Life of Canada, Westview Baptist Church and pastor Martin Wrigglesworth, and Powell River Youth Soccer. The claim is being brought by C.D., A.B.'s litigation guardian.
Court documents state Gebhart died suddenly on May 17, 2022 “in the midst of a criminal investigation of A.B.’s abuse."
The claim said A.B. met Gebhart through Powell River Soccer, and that he isolated and befriended the youth.
It said Gebhart, also a Young Life leader, would take A.B. to Young Life gatherings including those at the church, which made office space available to the organization.
The claim alleged Gebhart bought the youth gifts, showed favouritism toward him, requested illicit photos of the youth, engaged in sexualized conversation, exposed his genitals and showed the youth videos of infants and teen girls being raped.
The claim said the youth reported the alleged abuse to police on May 9, 2022.
Eight days later, Gebhart drove his vehicle into oncoming traffic on Highway 101 near Powell River and died of his injuries, state the court documents.
“Westview publicly celebrated Gebhart’s death in a Sunday service — despite knowing that, at the time of his death, Gebhart was under criminal investigation for the grooming and abuse,” the claim said, also noting Young Life of Squamish publicly posted a tribute to Gebhart, “despite knowing of the ongoing criminal investigation.”
The claim calls those events a revictimization of A.B.
The claim said all the organizations had a responsibility to protect the youth, failed to investigate him, failed to warn parents and failed to have a reporting process.
As a result, court documents state A.B. has suffered:
- moral injury;
- spiritual injury;
- depressive symptoms;
- anxiety symptoms;
- post-traumatic stress disorder;
- hospitalization for suicidality;
- vaping nicotine products (substance use/abuse);
- emotional dysregulation;
- periods of explosive anger and rage;
- periods of impulsivity and reckless behaviours;
- intrusive memories;
- night terrors;
- nightmares; and
- an impaired ability to trust others.
Responses to claims
Church lead pastor Oskar Arajs said he could not comment on the case as it is under litigation.
Meanwhile, Young Life of Canada director of human resources Cole Nicholson said: “We are saddened by the circumstances leading to the filing of this lawsuit and will be filing a response to the NOCC (notice of civil claim) in due course.”
Powell River Youth Soccer did not respond to a request for comment by deadline.
None of the allegations have been proven in court.
If you or someone you know is a victim of sexual assault, help is available.
- In an emergency, call 911
- In a crisis, call 1-800-563-0808
- To report a person under 19 who needs protection to the Ministry of Children and Family Development, call 310-1234 (no area code required)
You can find a full list of resources on the B.C. government’s website.
