Apr 27, 2013 |

Clairmont: Soccer president’s past revealed

Wayne Cotton

Hamilton Spectator file photo

Wayne Cotton, who was convicted by a military court in 2002 for getting naked in front of an air cadet under his command, is now president of a youth soccer club in St. Catharines.

Hamilton Spectator

By Susan Clairmont

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A Hamilton air cadet captain convicted for getting naked in front of a girl under his command is now president of a youth soccer club in St. Catharines.

Wayne Cotton, whose military conviction for behaving in a disgraceful manner made front-page headlines in The Spectator in 2002, is the current president of the St. Catharines Concord Soccer Club. The club is home to male and female players aged four and up.

In response to interview requests, Cotton sent two emails to The Spectator late Friday afternoon. He says his criminal record check is clean and he did not tell the Concord club of the “charge from my time in the military” because “I have chosen to move on.”

He says he has had “a series of criminal record and vulnerable person checks done over the last 11 years, both for employment purposes and because of volunteer activities.” His military conviction “does not appear on the checks.”

Cotton says he has no immediate plans to resign from the soccer club.

“However, if I come to believe that my presence will be a hindrance to the club I will immediately resign as president,” he says. “I will not allow my presence to hurt it.”

Cotton’s position with Concord raises concerns about criminal background checks.

Military charges, such as the one Cotton was convicted of, are supposed to show up on the RCMP’s Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC) database system, according to spokespeople from the Department of National Defence and the RCMP. CPIC is used to do criminal background checks across the country.

Concord vice-president John Lefurgey – who is a criminal lawyer – would not say if he was aware of Cotton’s conviction. He also said he does not know if the club has a criminal record check for its president.

Another board member – not the president – is the designated person in charge of criminal background checks, he said. He would not say who it is.

Lefurgey said the club’s policy is that all registered coaches must undergo a criminal record check, but members of the board are not expected to “because they don’t have access to children.” He said he does not know if Cotton has coached with the club in the past.

He did, however, say Cotton plans to coach this season and is in the process of doing his criminal record check. Lefurgey is unsure if the documents had been received by the club.

After being provided with details of the court martial, Lefurgey was asked if he has concerns about Cotton’s role with the soccer club. He said he won’t know until he sits down with Cotton and the board, possibly next week.

Meanwhile, he does not intend to inform parents of Cotton’s background, he said.

At one time, Cotton was the leading candidate to become commanding officer of Hamilton’s 826 Gryphon air cadet squadron. He was also a reservist and staff officer at the Regional Cadet Instructor School at Camp Borden near Barrie and a security officer at Queen’s Park.

He was 36 when his court martial began at HMCS Star in Hamilton in March 2002. He pleaded not guilty to uttering a threat, conduct to the prejudice of good order and discipline and behaving in a disgraceful manner, charges laid under the National Defence Act.

Two teens under his command in Hamilton made allegations against him.

One testified that when she was 16, Cotton offered her $200 to pose nude for Internet photos. He made the offer several times, she said, sometimes in private at the John Foote Armoury and once he phoned her at home. She said he threatened to kill her if she told anyone.

On one occasion, she testified, he offered to undress with her in an empty classroom at the armoury, saying she might feel more comfortable if they were both naked.

Another cadet testified she was 18 when Cotton asked her to pose nude for an art class.

She went into a washroom with him at the armoury and he took off his pants and underwear.

She testified that when they left the washroom, he whispered into her ear, “Take this with you to your grave.”

Cotton took the stand and denied all the allegations.

He was found guilty of behaving in a disgraceful manner, the charge related to the 18-year-old cadet. The judge said the 16-year-old’s uncertainty about timelines made the reliability of her memory questionable and he was found not guilty on those charges.

Colonel Kim Carter, the presiding judge, told Cotton his behaviour “was clearly an abuse of a position of trust ... and it had sexual overtones.”

“It clearly impacts on your ability to lead cadets,” she said.

His sentence was a severe reprimand and a demotion to lieutenant.

Cotton, who says he is no longer in the military, wrote in his email: “People judge me now on what I do and what I contribute to the community.”

If he knew his involvement with Concord “would be used to damage the club” he would never have volunteered there.

“I am devastated that something that happened so long ago is going to be used against the club and me and my family now,” he says.

“I want to make very clear that I will continue to volunteer in the community and I will continue to try and make my community a better place. Whether I can best do that as president of a club, as coach of a team, or simply as the guy who helps clean up garbage after a tournament, I will continue to help.”

Susan Clairmont's commentary appears regularly in The Spectator. sclairmont@thespec.com 905-526-3539 | @susanclairmont