BURST
A one-time star of the Canadian track-and-field world was led away to begin a prison sentence Monday nearly 50 years after he sexually abused three young athletes under his care, including one who now lives in Metro Vancouver.
Thomas Kenneth Porter, 77, was sentenced to six years in prison months after Court of King’s Bench Justice Nicholas Devlin found him guilty of two counts of indecent assault and three counts of gross indecency.
Porter was found to have abused three boys aged 14 to 16 who he trained in sprints at the Edmonton Olympic track-and-field club in the late 1970s. The abuse included sexual touching during ostensible sports massages, as well as plying victims with pornography and alcohol. In one case, Porter ejaculated on one of the victims after a sexualized massage.
Chris Dallin, now of Ladner, was one of the former athletes. He addressed Porter in his victim impact statement.
“I was just 14 years old when my life was shattered … betrayed and violated by the very person who was supposed to guide me — my track coach,” Dallin said by video link. “The devastation of that betrayal has sent shock waves through every part of my life since.
“Ken, you’ve gotten away with this for much too long,” he concluded. “I hope you can get the help you need.”
Porter began a trial last year on charges he sexually abused five teen athletes in Edmonton in the late 1970s and early ’80s. Devlin convicted him of counts involving three victims in June, more than a year after his trial began.
The prosecution asked Devlin to impose a nine-year prison sentence. Prosecutor Julie Snowdon said the court must denounce the sexual abuse of children, no matter how long ago it happened.
She called Porter a “sophisticated” offender “who used his significant social capital” to repeatedly abuse teenage athletes who believed he held the key to their future. She said Porter had every advantage and continued to offend against children for his own sexual gratification.
Defence lawyer Solomon Friedman sought a three-year sentence. He argued Porter is already rehabilitated, given there is no evidence he reoffended in the half century since the abuse occurred.
“One cannot ignore 50 years of post-offence conduct which is wholly positive,” Friedman said. He pointed to Porter’s stints overseas working with refugees, as well as organizing multiple Commonwealth Games and the 1976 Montreal Olympics.
Porter also deserved leniency due to his poor health, Friedman said.
In settling on the six-year sentence, Devlin framed the case as one of “an otherwise good man who did some very bad things.”
The judge acknowledged the lifelong trauma Dallin suffered as a result of the abuse, including the loss of his promising track career. Devlin hoped Porter’s sentencing closed the circle for Dallin and the other victims.
“You need feel no more guilt or shame or doubt,” the judge told him. “I recognize on behalf of our whole society that you were wronged as a child.”