Child Molesting Coach from NJ Gets Year in Jail in Delaware

WILMINGTON, Del. — A youth hockey coach has been sentenced to one year in jail in Delaware for unlawful sexual contact with boys nearly three decades ago.

The News Journal reports that 57-year-old Walter "Tracy" Ferinden of Lansdale, PA, was sentenced on Friday. He pleaded guilty to two counts of unlawful sexual contact in June. The crimes first reported in 2016 involved two boys under age 14 and occurred in the late 1980s and 1990s.

Ferinden coached youth hockey and conducted skating clinics in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New York, and Vermont through the 1990s and as recently as 2010.

In September, Ferinden pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated sexual contact related to two victims in Burlington and Gloucester counties in the 1990s. Prosecutors have recommended he be sentenced to three years in prison to be served after he finishes his sentenced in Delaware. He also would be required to register as a sex offender in New Jersey.

Ferinden was accused of molesting a 12-year-old junior hockey league player in his Deptford apartment in 1994.

Prosecutors and police in New Jersey began investigating in 2016.

Ferinden coached youth hockey and skating clinics at the Holly Dell Ice Arena in Washington Township in Gloucester County and conducted clinics elsewhere in New Jersey. Investigators last year said they believed there may be more victims who have not come forward yet.