FORT COLLINS – A judge on Friday sentenced a former volunteer hockey coach who fled to Mexico after he was accused of molesting two boys to 24 years in prison and at least 20 years of mandatory parole to follow.
Andrew Vanderwal’s sentencing hearing lasted more than three hours and saw several people, including victims and their family, deliver victim impact statements before the maximum sentence was handed down.
Vanderwal had been accused of molesting the children of some of his roommates, whom he had moved in with after gaining their trust.
He fled the country to Mexico after he was let out on bond but was arrested after about a year after one of the victim’s mothers tracked Vanderwal down in Mexico.
Vanderwal pleaded guilty in December to molesting two of the boys he was originally charged with assaulting. Several other of his original charges were dropped by prosecutors as the case progressed through the court system.