July 9 — A former Boston University assistant hockey coach and BU alumnus was indicted on five counts of child rape yesterday, with one of the rapes allegedly occurring in a BU dorm room. He was also charged with two counts of indecent assault and battery on a person age 14 or older, according to a press release from the Suffolk Superior Court.
Robert Richardson, who was with the team from the 1985-86 season to the 1988-89 season and received a master’s degree in education from BU, allegedly first assaulted the 14-year-old male on July 30, 1998, during an International Hockey Academy camp held at BU.
Richardson is the director and one of the founders of the academy. David Procopio, spokesman for the district attorney, could not identify the dorm where the youth was allegedly assaulted.
Ed Carpenter, director of sports information for BU, said the school had no affiliation with the IHA.
“They just came in and rented the ice,” he said. “We had nothing to do with the camp at all.”
University police are assisting in the investigation, according to BU spokesman Colin Riley. The youth was allegedly assaulted two more times during the winter of 1998-99 in his Dorchester apartment.
Mitchell Garabedian, the alleged victim’s attorney, would not comment on case particulars, but praised his client’s bravery and said he “looks forward to testifying so that justice may prevail.”
Richardson’s attorney, Robert George, did not return phone calls seeking comment. Richardson is currently an assistant coach for the Milton Academy girl’s hockey team and a scout for the Calgary Flames.
IHA co-founder and University of Massachusetts at Amherst hockey coach Don Cahoon said the allegations were shocking.
“It’s a huge surprise,” he said. “We’ll have to see where it goes. It’s obviously something the hockey academy could do without, but we have lots of quality people working here.
“I don’t think there’s any reason the hockey community won’t give him the benefit of the doubt,” Cahoon continued. “It’s unfortunate, but we have to keep an open mind and let the case take its course.”
Richardson will be arraigned in Suffolk Superior Court on July 14.
This is an account occasionally used by the Daily Free Press editors to post archived posts from previous iterations of the site or otherwise for special circumstance publications. See authorship info on the byline at the top of the page.
