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The quick read: A prominent Kelowna equestrian coach is facing six criminal charges, including alleged sexual offences against a young person. On Tuesday, October 13, police charged Sebastien Benoit Devrainne with sexual exploitation, luring a child, making sexually explicit material available to a child, and three counts of sexual assault. The allegations date back more than a decade.

Parents hand their children to coaches with complete trust. This week, that trust is on trial in Kelowna.

On Tuesday, October 13, police laid six criminal charges against Sebastien Benoit Devrainne, a Kelowna equestrian coach: sexual exploitation, luring a child, making sexually explicit material available to a child, and three counts of sexual assault. The allegations stretch back more than a decade.

Devrainne operates Devrainne Performance Horses, a coaching and development company out of the Gemstones Acres facility on Curtis Road, southwest of UBCO. Last May, he was approved as a Licensed coach by Equestrian Canada. His show jumping results on the organization's website date back to 2011, with his most recent results from this past September.

This didn't come out of nowhere. Back in November, the Kelowna RCMP Sex Crimes Unit announced it had arrested a prominent member of the local equestrian community — without naming him — on allegations of sexual assault and sexual exploitation. He was released on conditions including no contact with anyone under 18.

Castanet contacted Equestrian Canada to ask whether the organization was aware of the charges; it had not responded by publication time. That silence is worth noting. The sport's national body licenses coaches and lists their credentials — parents should be able to expect that licence means something.

Let's be clear and fair: these are allegations, and nothing has been proven in court. The accused is entitled to the same presumption of innocence as anyone else.

But there's a pro-family principle that holds regardless of how this case ends: organizations that work with children need real safeguards — background checks that mean something, clear reporting channels, and adults held accountable when lines are crossed.

Parents who trust coaches with their kids deserve to know when that trust is broken. Every sports club in the valley should be asking itself what protections it has in place — before it's the one in the headlines.