A 57-year-old former hockey coach received a 2-year prison sentence for the sexual assault of two of his former juvenile players.
From the late 1980s into the early 1990s, Walter Ferinden of Whiting, NJ, committed acts of sexual contact on numerous occasions, according to prosecutors. In June 2018, Ferinden pled guilty to two counts of Unlawful Sexual Contact Second Degree.
A Superior Court judge sentenced Ferinden to two years in prison followed by two years of probation. Ferinden, who must also register as a Tier 2 sex offender, also pled guilty in New Jersey to sexual contact charges involving two additional victims and faces an agreed upon 3 years of incarceration there.
Original Story
Delaware – New Castle County Police (NCCPD) have arrested Walter “Tracy” Ferinden, 55, of Lansdale, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, in connection with a sexual abuse investigation from the 1980s and 90s, according to NCCPD Spokesman JP Piser.
Piser said that in June 2016, County Police Family Services Unit detectives began an investigation into reports of sexual abuse involving Walter “Tracy” Ferinden. County Police conducted joint investigations with the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office in New Jersey- as victims reported the sexual abuse occurred in Delaware and New Jersey.
Both of the reported sexual abuse cases in Delaware allegedly occurred during the late 1980s and early 1990s, when Walter “Tracy” Ferinden was coaching ice hockey, according to Piser. Both of the Delaware victims are male and were under the age of eighteen at the time of the crime.
On Monday, Mar 20, 2017. Walter “Tracy” Ferinden turned himself into police and charged with nine counts of second-degree unlawful sexual contact. He was arraigned and released after posting $25,000 secured bail.
Ferinden coached youth hockey and clinics in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and Vermont. He also led clinics at Holly Dell Ice Arena in Washington Township.
Based on the investigation, detectives believe there may be more victims and are asking anyone with any information pertaining to this investigation to contact Det. Escheman at (302) 395-2745 or via email at [email protected].
Ferinden was also charged with two counts of sexual contact with a 12-year-old boy for incidents that allegedly occurred at Ferinden’s Deptford, New Jersey home in the summer of 1994, according to the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office. An additional New Jersey victim came forward but the alleged incident happened before 1991 putting it past the statute of limitations.
Original Story Regarding NJ Cases
Gloucester County, PA. – The Gloucester County Prosecutor’s office has signed additional charges against Walter W. Ferinden (DOB 5/20/61), of Lansdale PA, a youth hockey coach who was arrested in March on charges of sexually assaulting a boy in 1994 in Deptford where Ferinden was then living and when the boy was involved in playing organized hockey, according to the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office.
The new complaint alleges sexual contact with a boy in Shamong Township, Burlington County in 1992. He was arrested on the second-degree charges Wednesday (6/7) at the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office. The boy involved in the Burlington County case is not the boy alleged to be the victim in the Deptford complaint. This new case is expected to be transferred to Gloucester County for prosecution.
After his initial Gloucester County arrest, Ferinden has been on electronic monitoring and was required to surrender his passport.
Ferinden is also charged in New Castle, Delaware with nine counts of second-degree unlawful sexual contact with minors.
Through the 1990s and as recently as 2010, Ferinden coached youth hockey and conducted skating clinics in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New York and Vermont.
Anyone with information on this case or who believes they know someone possibly victimized by Walter Ferinden is asked to contact GCPO Det. Gregory Malesich at 856-384-5626.
New Castle detectives believe there may be more victims and are asking anyone with information pertaining to their investigation to contact Det. Escheman at 302-395-2745 or via e-mail at [email protected].