Local Youth Hockey Coach Sentenced to Six Years in Prison

Former Winnipeg area youth hockey coach Madison Biluk has been sentenced to six years in prison for crimes committed while serving within local community centres and abroad. 

Biluk, 31, was arrested in 2023 on charges related to sexual assault, grooming and weapons, stemming from ongoing interactions with a teenage girl. 

Appearing in court in Winnipeg on Monday morning, Biluk listened as Judge Jerilee Ryle sentenced her to six years behind bars for her actions that took place from 2019-21. 

Biluk, then 24-26, groomed and sexually assaulted a player she was coaching, who at the time was 15-16 years of age. The coach first met the player at age 14. 

Due to publication ban, the victim remains unnamed.

According to Judge Ryle, Biluk groomed the victim through frequent messages, photos and actions on various social media and messaging platforms. Frequent late-night phone calls, FaceTime videos and messages were not out of the norm for the former coach.

Through investigative findings, the relationship between the coach and player began through simple carpool travel to and from hockey rinks. That quickly escalated to textual communication, which later transitioned to explicit picture and video messaging and in-person get togethers, which were also photographed and recorded.

Biluk's behaviour also included extended periods of time with the players in the dressing room before and after games, including time when players would be showering, undressing and changing.

Biluk, who played two seasons at Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh and studied education, used the victim's past mental health struggles against her, blurring professional coach/player boundaries to exploit the relationship between the two, Judge Ryle said. 

The victim's impact statement indicated her depression, suicidal attempts, low self-esteem, loss of jobs and friendships were all directly related to the trauma she suffered at the hands of Biluk. 

"The offending was not a one-time lapse in judgment," the Judge said. "It persisted for 16 months and was carried out through secrecy, deception and repeated violations of the victim.

"The accused's actions caused the victim serious ongoing emotional and psychological harm."

On top of the six-year sentence, Biluk will also be registered as a sex offender with mid-to-high risk of re-offending. She can not longer contact the victim, work or volunteer with people under 16 and must stay off Snapchat.

Despite various complaints from players/parents on her behaviour, Biluk remained coaching within Manitoba and later Alberta. She served both hockey and basketball communities.

She served her local Gimli High School varsity girls basketball team for six years as well as coaching high-level girls hockey in both the Winnipeg and Interlake regions of Manitoba, as well as in Okotoks. 

The abuse began during the time Biluk coached and extended after she had moved on. 

Complaints from players and parents in both basketball and hockey indicated Biluk would travel with the team on road trips, often staying in players' rooms, even sharing beds with some of the players at night. 

Biluk initially faced the following 15 charges, and pleaded guilty in 2024 to luring a sexual assault between 2019-21:

- Sexual Assault

- Sexual Exploitation

- Sexual Interference

- Invitation to Sexual Touching

- Luring a Person Under 16 years of age by Means of Telecommunication 

- Luring a Person Under 18 years of age by Means of Telecommunication x 2

- Transmit, Make Available, Distribute or Sell Sexually Explicit Material to a Person Under 16yrs

- Transmit, Make Available, Distribute or Sell Sexually Explicit Material to a Person Under 18yrs  x 2

- Makes, Prints, Publishes or Poss for the Purpose of Publication any Child Pornography

- Imports, Distributes, Sells or Poss for the Purpose of Distribution or Sale any Child Pornography

- Possession of Child Pornography

- Assault with a Weapon

- Assault

Since her guilty plea, Biluk's court date has been bumped back numerous times - most recently to allow her to recover and undergo proper physical therapy for a wrist surgery. She was also granted additional time before the court date to resolve her Celiac diagnosis in order to attain appropriate food during her jail time. 

Biluk has been in counselling since 2024 in an attempt to understand her actions and ongoing behaviour - behaviour which began in her years coaching basketball, continued through Hockey Manitoba and later in Alberta.