Canadian figure skater Sörensen sentenced to at least six years in prison for “sexual abuse”.

Canadian figure skater Nikolaj Soerensen has been suspended for at least six years for “sexual abuse,” the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner said Wednesday.

The suspension was listed on the Office’s Abuse-Free Sport Registry and can be appealed or appealed.

The ban is the result of an OSIC investigation into allegations that Soerensen sexually abused an American figure skating coach and former figure skater in Hartford, Connecticut, in 2012.

Soerensen has denied the accusation, which has not been tested in court.

Skate Canada, the country’s figure skating governing body, said in a statement that it “has been informed of Abuse-Free Sport’s decision on this matter and is taking the necessary actions to comply.”

“The ban is being issued by Skate Canada,” the statement said.

Soerensen and his skating partner Laurence Fournier Beaudry remained active last season despite the allegations and investigations.

In March they took part in the World Figure Skating Championships in Montreal.

Two months earlier, they withdrew from the national championships in Calgary after USA Today reported in January that an American figure skating coach and former figure skater accused Soerensen of sexually abusing her in Hartford, Connecticut, in 2012. Soerensen was 23 years old at the time.

Soerensen and Fournier Beaudry won a silver medal at the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in Shanghai later that month.

The Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner opened in June 2022 to handle complaints and investigations for athletes nationally in sports organizations that join the program. Former sports minister Pascale St-Onge set it up as an independent body for abuse complaints following the Hockey Canada scandal this year.

Since August 2023, the office has announced eight suspensions, including for Sörensen. The 35-year-old Sörensen is the sixth victim of sexual abuse.

Tyler Myles is the only other Skate Canada member to be suspended. The coach is currently permanently banned from playing because of “crossing boundaries, interfering with or manipulating processes, physical abuse, sexual abuse.”

However, the decision is “challenged on the basis of the applicability of the UCCMS.” [Universal Code of Conduct to Prevent and Address Maltreatment in Sport].”