Warning: The video in this article contains disturbing content.
An assistant coach for a junior hockey team was captured on camera as he allegedly attempted to solicit sex from a 16-year-old boy in Sleepy Eye, Minn., four hours away from his home. Brendan Phelps has not been criminally charged, but he has been fired over the allegations.
A Youtube video by “Midwest Predator Catchers” was published July 9 showing Phelps on his way to meet up with who he thought was a 16-year-old boy, only to be confronted by Midwest Predator Catchers, who pose as underage people online to lure predators.
The interaction was caught in an 18-minute video that shows Phelps struggling to answer straightforward questions.
Phelps initially told the person filming that his name is Anthony but eventually provided his real name. At one point, Phelps was asked if he was there to have sex with a 16-year-old boy.
“Maybe, yeah,” Phelps admitted after several minutes.
The person filming then asked Phelps if he previously had sex with a 17-year-old boy in his truck.
“Yeah, but that was when I was 18,” Phelps said.
“Bulls–,” the person filming responded.
People claiming to be Phelps’s former players commented on the Youtube video, many shocked by the revelation.
“This guy was my hockey coach when I was 17-years-old. This is unbelievable,” said one person.
“I never thought I’d actually see someone I know on one of these. LET ALONE one of my old hockey coaches. Back when I was 13, I respected this guy and looked up to him as a coach and a person. F****** disgusting,” another commented.
“One of my favorite hockey coaches I’ve ever played for. I looked up to this guy. Absolutely disgusting,” said a former player.
Phelps was a coach for the Minnesota Wilderness, a junior hockey team in the North American Hockey League based in Cloquet, Minn.
Minnesota Wilderness general manager and head coach Dave Boitz issued a statement to Alpha News confirming that Phelps was fired and suspended from “participation in any USA Hockey sanctioned activity, including all activity within the jurisdiction of the North American Hockey League (NAHL).”
“Based on the information currently available to the The Wilderness, the conduct in question does not appear to have involved any NAHL player, personnel or activities,” Boitz said in a statement. “The team encourages any player [or] player’s family member … who has concerns about Mr. Phelps’ behavior to contact team representatives, so that they can be put in contact with the U.S. Center for SafeSport and/or local authorities.”
Boitz said the incident is now being handled by local authorities and the U.S. Center for SafeSport.
The age of consent in Minnesota is 16, although it is raised to 18 when the offender is an authority figure.
The Sleepy Eye Police Department said it is aware of the “videos circulating on social media” and is “conducting an active investigation.”
“As such, information is not available to the public at this time,” the department said.
Pafoua Yang
Pafoua Yang is a reporter for Alpha News. She has worked as an on-air reporter for stations across the Twin Cities.
