BOSTON, Oct. 15, 2015—A former Dorchester youth hockey coach was arraigned today on charges he sexually assaulted a young player after taking the boy under his wing, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

ROBERT RICHARDSON (D.O.B. 12/8/53) appeared on a summons to Suffolk Superior Court, where he was formally charged with three counts of rape of a child.  Clerk Magistrate Gary Wilson set bail in the amount of $500 and ordered Richardson to have no direct or indirect contact with the victim.

Assistant District Attorney David Deakin, chief of the DA’s Family Protection and Sexual Assault Bureau, told the court that at the time the abuse began in 1991, Richardson was a prominent youth hockey coach and operator of a hockey camp who had taken an interest in the then-13-year-old victim.  Richardson secured an opportunity for the boy to play for a prestigious local youth hockey team and invited him to spend several nights a week at the defendant’s Dorchester condo, where the alleged assaults took place on various dates between 1991 and 1994.

The victim disclosed the abuse to a family member while he was still in his teens.  That disclosure prompted a conversation with the teen’s high school hockey coach in which the victim said he was not comfortable with Richardson’s continued involvement with the team but did not disclose the reason.  As a result, the victim’s high school coach told the defendant he could no longer work with the team.

The victim also disclosed the abuse to a friend in college, and finally approached law enforcement in 2014 to report the abuse, leading to an investigation by Boston Police detectives and Suffolk prosecutors.

Sexual assault can happen to anyone. While the victims of any crime should call 911 in an emergency, survivors of sexual violence in Suffolk County can also call the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center’s 24-hour hotline at 800-841-8371. The Boston Area Rape Crisis Center provides medical advocacy, legal services, counseling, and other services to victims of rape and sexual assault.

Kate Lagana is the DA’s assigned victim-witness advocate.  Richardson is represented by Michael Doolin.  He returns to court Nov. 13.

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All defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.