Former Canadian U-20 women's soccer coach pleads guilty to sexual assault

A former head coach of both the Vancouver Whitecaps women’s team and Canadian under-20 women’s soccer team has pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual assault and one count of touching a young person for a sexual purpose.

Bob Birarda entered guilty pleas in court in North Vancouver, B.C., on Tuesday morning to charges spanning from 1988 to 2006, involving four separate victims.

Birarda appeared through a video link from his lawyer’s downtown office and sat with his hands clasped together as a judge read each of the four charges to him.

“I plead guilty, your honour,” Birarda said in response to the