A lawsuit filed by a former San Jose Jr. Sharks player who was sexually abused by his skills coach has been resolved with a $4.6 million settlement, reached months after the coach pleaded no contest to multiple felony charges.

Former Sharks Youth Coach Pleads No Contest to Sexual Assault

34-year-old Kevin Whitmer, a resident of Denver, Colorado. pleaded no contest Aug. 26 to 12 counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a child under 14 and one count of possessing child sexual abuse material, according to court records. Under a plea agreement, Whitmer is expected to serve 25 years in prison. Sentencing is tentatively scheduled for February.

A Santa Clara County Superior Court judge approved the settlement Dec. 2 between the underage plaintiff — identified as John Doe because he is a victim of sexual assault — and Sharks Sports & Entertainment LLC and its subsidiary, Sharks Ice. The lawsuit was filed in March 2024, several months after Whitmer was arrested and charged.

The lawsuit, filed by the San Jose-based firm Cerri, Boskovich & Allard, alleged the Sharks organization failed to enforce USA Hockey rules requiring supervision in youth locker rooms and limiting private interactions between adults and minors. The complaint said those failures allowed Whitmer to gain unauthorized access to locker rooms and engage in inappropriate conduct with youth players.

According to the lawsuit, Whitmer abused Doe during 2021 and 2022, beginning when the boy was 12 years old. Attorneys for the plaintiff said Whitmer groomed the player and repeatedly assaulted him after private lessons at Sharks Ice facilities and at Whitmer’s temporary residence in San Jose. Prosecutors also accused Whitmer of sending the boy sexually explicit images.

"We uncovered substantial evidence that rules promulgated by USA Hockey were not followed, specific to having chaperones present in locker rooms, which were identified by USA hockey as areas that were particularly dangerous for minors," Christopher Allard, an attorney for the plaintiff, told the media. "They advised the Sharks to ensure that these locker rooms were strictly followed, and not only were they not followed, but almost to a person, management did not even know of these rules."

The investigation revealed that the assaults occurred both at Sharks Ice in San José and at Whitmer’s temporary residence in the city. Whitmer had previously served as head coach for a AAA team.

Whitmer Secured Another Youth Coaching Position After Leaving Sharks

Whitmer left the Sharks organization in May 2023 and later returned to Colorado, where he obtained another youth coaching position. He was arrested about six months later after the victim reported the abuse to police.

In previous statements, Sharks Sports & Entertainment said it was not aware of any sexual misconduct allegations involving Whitmer until after he left the organization. The team reiterated that position in response to inquiries about the settlement.

The settlement resolves the civil claims without an admission of wrongdoing by the Sharks organization.

Whitmer will be sentenced in February. 

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