Well-known skating instructor and hockey coach in Quinte is facing sex-related charges in the greater Toronto area.
Fifty-two year old Michael Sanderson of Belleville is facing two charges that he sexually assaulted a girl under fourteen years old in the early 1980s while he was coaching figure skating in Toronto, and one count of gross indecency. Sanderson’s lawyer, Steven Skurka, says the plea will be “…not guilty and Mike will be vigorously challenging the charges…” Sanderson has been a power skating instructor, and coached in the Belleville Bearcats Girls Minor Hockey Association the last several years. Earlier this year Sanderson’s son Don died after a fight during a senior hockey game in Whitby.
