Coach charged in sex with boy

A Schwenksville youth ice hockey coach was charged Wednesday with having a three-year sexual relationship with a relative, beginning when the boy was 7 years old.

Gary Byer, 66, who worked in youth sports for at least 15 years, was arrested by Lower Frederick Township police on charges including attempted rape and indecent assault, the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office said yesterday.

He is being held in Montgomery County prison after failing to post $500,000 bail.

The victim's mother called police on July 1, after her son returned from a weekend visit with the relative. He was crying as he asked her if it was normal for a grown man to touch a boy sexually, the woman told officers.

The things the boy detailed "were not OK to be doing with a child," Assistant District Attorney Risa Ferman said yesterday.

The Inquirer is not releasing the name of the child because of the nature of the crime.

Authorities went to Byer's home and found the bedroom littered with sex toys and pornography. Byer "did not act surprised or defensive" about the allegations, according to the police complaint.

He was taken into custody after a second search of his home, early July 2, when police discovered melted DVDs and videotapes in an outdoor grill. Byer told them that they contained footage of him having sex with the child, the complaint said.

The boy subsequently told a Montgomery County detective that Byer forced him to engage in oral sex and acts of sodomy, the complaint said. Their most recent encounter was in June, following a youth hockey game, the child told police.

Before each encounter, the man would draft a "contract" detailing what the two would do, the boy said. Afterward, he said, Byer would tear it up.

Byer was most recently affiliated with the Hatfield Maple Leafs youth hockey team. Before that, he was a coach with the North Penn Hockey Association and other area teams, Ferman said.

Those with information regarding Byer should contact Lower Frederick police, she said.