A Kelowna equestrian coach has been found guilty of luring a child for a sexual purpose after a jury returned its verdict on Monday evening.
Sebastien Devrainne, originally from France, was found guilty in B.C. Supreme Court of sexual assault, sexual exploitation, and making sexual materials available to a minor after a week-long trial in Kelowna before Justice Chan and a jury.
The jury rejected the defence’s argument that the Crown failed to prove an inappropriate relationship occurred while the former student was a minor, despite evidence that the text messages presented at trial were exchanged in 2023 after the complainant had reached adulthood.
The Crown argued the text messages showed sexual interactions had occurred between the coach and former student, pointing to messages in which Devrainne “confidently corrects” the complainant during a discussion about sex.
Messages were exchanged between Devrainne and the victim about the age at which someone loses their virginity. The coach said the former student shouldn’t be surprised to hear of youth having sex for the first time at age 14 or 15, to which the victim replied, “I was 17.”
Crown argued Devrainne misunderstood the reply to mean the age at which the student was when their relationship became sexual. The reply, “You were 16,” with a winking emoji, Crown said, was not a question or a request for clarification, but rather that Devrainne was stating a fact that they had a sexual encounter when the victim was underage.
The proof, Crown argued, is in the victim’s next message, “Nope, I was 17.”
It was also presented to the jury in Crown’s closing arguments that Devrainne contradicted the evidence found in the message threat. The court heard that Devrainne had sent an image of the victim when she was at a riding competition between the ages of 15 and 17 to the victim with a tongue out emoji and the comment, “My god, you were cute.”
The former student confidently testified she knew her age was between 15 and 17 when the photo was taken based on the jump heights and the division she competed in during those years. When Devrainne was questioned by Crown as to whether he thought the student was cute in a sexual way when she was a teenager, Devrainne told the court, “I didn’t say that.”
A pre-sentence and psychiatric report has been ordered by the courts, which is expected to be complete by Devrainne’s next court appearance on Sept. 28.
Justice Chan dismissed Crown’s request to revoke bail. Devrainne has not been in custody, but is under conditions not to communicate with anyone under the age of 18.
Devrainne was a coach with Devrainne Performance Horses, which operates out of the Der Gemstone Acres facility. He has not coached or competed since 2023.