B.C. hockey team says it didn’t know executive was being investigated for sex crimes

NANAIMO – A junior hockey team in British Columbia says it was not aware of sexual exploitation allegations against an executive when he was hired.

In an online statement, the Nanaimo Clippers said that when the organization found out about the RCMP investigation into Tyler King, his employment was terminated.

RCMP announced Monday that they began investigating King in 2024, around the time he left the Okotoks Oilers, a team in southern Alberta that also plays in the British Columbia Hockey League.

After working in Okotoks, King went to the BCHL’s Nanaimo team and eventually wound up teaching sports journalism at a university in New York state.

Last week, police arrested King at a U.S. border crossing in Ontario and charged him with sexual exploitation offences involving three underage junior A hockey players.

RCMP said the 39-year-old had worked with various teams across Alberta, Ontario and British Columbia.

The Nanaimo Clippers said that the decision to fire King “was not a determination of the merits of the allegations.”

The Clippers said the allegations do not relate to his time with the team.

“We have not received, and are not aware of, any complaints or concerns regarding his conduct during his brief time with the Clippers,” the team said.

“The safety and well-being of our players, billet families and young fans is our highest priority. We have contacted the RCMP to offer our full co-operation to the extent it is needed.”

The league confirmed in a statement that “upon learning of the accusations, his BCHL team immediately terminated his employment.”

The league did not immediately respond when asked whether it knew about the allegations when he left the Okotoks team and was hired in Nanaimo.

“Although he only spent a brief few months in the BCHL, we have fully supported the RCMP’s investigation of this matter,” the league said.

Mounties have said the Okotoks Oilers reported in June 2024 that a former employee had allegedly solicited and compensated players for intimate images and sexual videos.

A statement published on the team’s website around the same time announced King was leaving his job.

“The Okotoks Oilers would like to thank Tyler King for his tireless efforts during his three seasons in our organization as Assistant GM, Business Operations,” said the June 2024 statement.

The page, which has since been taken down, said King had been in charge of overseeing all off-ice operations.

It said King also served as the main play-by-play voice of the team on The Eagle 100.9 FM in Okotoks and online streaming platforms during his second and third seasons with the team.

The three complainants, all under 18 at the time of the allegations, were junior A players from Saskatchewan and Alberta.

RCMP said King, who was arrested Friday, had been working with the State University of New York campus at Oswego in New York state. He is to return later this week to Alberta to face charges of luring, sexual exploitation and making child pornography.

The university said King joined the school in 2025 as a professor of practice with its communications studies department.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 3, 2026.

— By Daniela Germano and Fakiha Baig in Edmonton