A former ice hockey coach and skating instructor from Pennsylvania was sentenced to three years in prison in New Jersey on Friday for sexually abusing a boy on his team.
New Jersey is the second state where Walter Ferinden, 57, of Lansdale, has been found guilty for sexually grooming and assaulting minors. Ferinden coached youth hockey and ran clinics in New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New York and Vermont for 30 years, according to the Associated Press.
MORE: Gov. Phil Murphy signs New Jersey public beach access legislation into law
Ferinden was first charged with nine counts of unlawful sexual contact with two minors in Delaware, and he was sentenced to two years in prison and two years of probation in December. He also must register as a sex offender there.
In New Jersey, Ferinden was arrested in 2017 on charges that he molested a Gloucester County child in 1994 — a 12-year-old boy who played in the junior hockey league — and another in Burlington County in 1992, NJ.com reported. The victim in Gloucester County gave statements to police in 2016 and 2017 that Ferinden "kissed him on the mouth, massaged his body and pressed his genitals against him" in his Deptford apartment, according to prosecutors.
On Friday, he was sentenced to three years in prison on pleas of aggravated sexual contact charges in New Jersey, with the judge ruling that Ferinden will serve that sentence after he has completed his prison time in Delaware.
Follow Emily & PhillyVoice on Twitter @emily_rolen | @thePhillyVoice
Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice
Add Emily’s RSS feed to your feed reader
Have a news tip? Let us know.