$4.6 Million Settlement for Youth Hockey Player Sexually Abused by Jr. Sharks Coach

In April 2021, an 11-year-old boy joined the San Jose Jr. Sharks hockey program. Within months, his coach Kevin Whitmer began a pattern of grooming that escalated into repeated sexual abuse. Whitmer used private skating lessons as cover, directing the child to sit on his lap, placing his hands around the boy's waist and midsection, and conducting chest and abdominal massages. The abuse continued across practices, private sessions, and encounters at Sharks Ice locker rooms, as well as at Whitmer's San Jose residence.

Whitmer had coached for the organization for six years. During that time, investigators found the Sharks Ice facilities were operating without the locker room chaperones that USA Hockey rules explicitly require. Attorneys for the plaintiff documented that not only were those supervision protocols ignored, but that management was largely unaware the rules existed at all.

Cerri, Boskovich and Allard filed the civil lawsuit against Sharks Sports and Entertainment, LLC and its subsidiary, Sharks Ice, LLC, alleging the organization created the conditions for the abuse by failing to enforce safety policies it was obligated to follow. The defendants settled without an admission of fault.

On August 26, 2025, Whitmer pleaded no contest to 12 felony counts of lewd and lascivious acts with children under 14 in connection with five separate victims, plus one felony count of possessing child sexual abuse material. He subsequently received a 25-year prison sentence.

Santa Clara County Superior Court approved the $4.6 million civil settlement on December 2, 2025. The plaintiff was one of at least five children Whitmer abused across the course of his coaching career.