In Vancouver, Canada, a Brazilian curling competitor and young coach is accused of three counts of child sex.

The forty-year-old Vancouver resident, Marcio Cerquinho, has represented Brazil in two Americas Challenge events and three World Mixed Doubles championships.

Following the victim’s report of the event, which reportedly occurred in New Westminster on May 14, Vancouver police announced charges of sexual interference, invitation to sexual touching, and sexual exploitation.

Cerquinho was also charged by the police with leveraging his role as a curling coach to curry favor.

According to Sgt. Sanjay Kumar of the New Westminster Police, the victim went to her mother to initially report the event and was advised that she was touched improperly by the accused and that she was forced to touch him.

Division.

In an interview with CTV News, Cerquinho refuted any wrongdoing.

I would never use this kind of touch on a Canadian. I relocated from Brazil. Cerquinho remarked, I paid a lot of money to remain here. My wife is pregnant. Furthermore, I would never treat someone that way.

In court, none of the accusations made against Cerquinho have been validated.

Following his arrest on May 17, he was given several restrictions upon his release, one of which was that he could only speak with minors under the age of sixteen with the consent of his bail supervisor and only in the presence of a responsible adult.

Early June is when he is expected to appear in provincial court in New Westminster again.

With a best finish of 17th place, Cerquinho’s record at three World Mixed Doubles championships is nine wins, twelve losses, and one tie. Cerquinho’s Team Brazil, which was coached by men’s team captain Marcello Melo, finished 0–6 in the two tournaments that were contested to secure the second North American spot at the men’s world championship.

Following three Americas Challenge losses to the USA’s John Shuster in 2017, Team Brazil fell to Canada’s Glenn Howard quartet in three consecutive games in 2018. Throughout the latter playoff in London, Ontario, Cerquinho was the exuberant on-ice competitor that inspired both teams to switch jerseys throughout the game.

In addition, Cerquinho served as the coach for Brazil’s junior mixed and mixed doubles teams in Lausanne, Switzerland, during the 2018 Youth Olympics.

According to Brazil’s Verso Online (UOL), Cerquinho is associated with Arena Ice, the nation’s first curling facility, which is situated in Sao Paulo. Cerquinho threw the first stone at the facility in February 2020; however, the official opening scheduled for May 2020 had to be postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The World Curling Federation stated in a 2020 article that Brazil has about 40 players worldwide. When the Olympic curling competition from Vancouver 2010 was televised on Brazilian television during the carnival holidays, the nation initially saw a surge in the number of virtual curling enthusiasts.

Six months later, Brazil’s first live promotional curling event took place in Sao Paulo, operated by Canada’s Rock Solid Productions.