Ex-Hockey Coach Pleads Guilty to Criminal Sexual Conduct

A former Blake School girls hockey coach has pleaded guilty to criminal sexual conduct, admitting to authorities that he sexually assaulted a student and invited the girl back to his Burnsville home.

James Brent Vandusartz, 57, will be sentenced Nov. 16 in Dakota County District Court in Hastings. A judge has ordered a presentence investigation in the case.

The maximum penalty for the charge is 15 years in prison and a $30,000 fine. Under state sentencing guidelines, Vandusartz is expected to serve up to a year in county jail, but Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom is awaiting the results of the presentence investigation before recommending a sentence.

Vandusartz admitted having sexual contact with the victim, who was between 16 and 18 years old, at his home last Nov. 28. The girl told police about the assault the day after it happened, and said Vandusartz was trying to contact her via e-mails and voice-mail messages.

Police arranged a controlled phone call between the girl and Vandusartz in which Vandusartz told the girl that he thought that there was a “spark between them,” and “while they didn’t have to be lovers, he thought the student enjoyed getting pleasure from him, and he enjoyed giving it,” according to the criminal complaint.

The victim agreed to meet Vandusartz the next day. Instead, police showed up that morning at his home and arrested him.

After his arrest, Vandusartz admitted to police that he had sexual contact with the student “in the heat of the moment,” according to the complaint.

Vandusartz – whose attorney has said that his client is undergoing treatment for a brain tumor – worked part time at Blake School as a girls hockey coach. He also volunteered and worked as a hockey coach for both boys and girls at other private schools in the Twin Cities area, including St. Paul Academy and Summit School in St. Paul.