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Minard sentenced for sexual misconduct of a minor

(Waldo County Jail)

(Waldo County Jail)

PORTLAND – Former Portland Pirates assistant coach Mike Minard was sentence to 60 days in jail after pleading no contest to a charge of sexual misconduct with a 13-year-old girl Wednesday at Waldo County Superior Court in Belfast.

Minard, 37, had been issued summonses for solicitation of a child to commit a prohibited act and for sexual misconduct with a child under the age of 14 after the mother of the Waldo County girl contacted police in January to report the inappropriate exchange of text messages.

The incident came to light in February when Minard was fired by his employer, the Phoenix Coyotes, Portland’s NHL parent club for cause after they were informed of an investigation by both the Maine State Police Computer Crimes Unit and Waldo County Sheriff’s Department.

State Police Detective Jason Bosco interview Minard on Feb. 19 at the Pirates’ practice facility in Saco.

According to the police report, Bosco wrote, “Mike said he knew what he did was wrong and that he got caught up in the excitement and fantasy of it all. Mike said that he was having inappropriate sexual conversations with (the girl) via text messages.”

Bosco also mentioned in his report that Minard admitted to sending a picture of his genitals to the girl, but said he was never alone with the teen and despite discussion about having sex and doing sexual things with one another he never intended to follow through with it.

A month later after Minard was fired by the Coyotes; the team issued a press statement indicating that Minard was under investigation and that his employment was being terminated by the team.

Minard, who lived in Falmouth, met the 13-year-old girl last season at a Pirates’ game at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee in Lewiston. The girl was attempting to take a photo, but claimed on social media that Minard was blocking her view. They began communicating via social media and later traded cell phone numbers, moving onto text messaging.

Minard had informed the investigators, who questioned him during a Pirates’ practice that their exchanges didn’t turn sexual until January.

The girl’s mother became suspicious after asking to see her daughter’s phone and she noticed she had been deleting her texting history. The mother became aware of the alleged image during a check of her daughter’s cell phone and contacted Waldo County Police.

Minard, who was a senior instructor for a hockey camp in his hometown of Stoney Creek, Ontario, has left Maine and moved to Hamilton, Ontario with his family/ He will serve his sentence in Maine at the Two Bridges Regional Jail in Wiscasset.

At the time, Minard was in his third season with the Pirates as goaltending coach, working with prospects Coyotes’ goaltending prospects Mark Visentin, Mike Lee and Louis Domingue.

He joined the Pirates after working for the Hamilton Bulldogs where he served a video coach for the organization. During his first season in Portland, he held a similar role in addition to working with the goaltenders in Portland. He later transitioned into more of a fulltime goaltending coach with the Pirates.

Minard, a native of Owen Sound, Ontario, was a journeyman goaltending playing the majority of his career in the AHL and ECHL. He was a draft pick of the Edmonton Oilers in 1995 and played 141 AHL games Hamilton, St. John’s and Manitoba. He made one lone NHL start with Edmonton Oilers during the 1999-00 season, earning the victory.

In addition to serving 60-days in jail, Minard was ordered to pay $560 in restitution.

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