ST. CHARLES COUNTY, Mo. — A former Lindenwood and youth hockey coach was sentenced to 75 years in prison months after admitting to sexually abusing two children from 2007 to 2018.
U.S. District Judge Sarah Pitlyk Lake St. Louis resident James Lambert, 42, to 75 years in prison. He pleaded guilty in February to two counts of production of child pornography, one count of transporting a minor across state lines to engage in criminal sexual activity, one count of receiving child pornography and one count of aggravated sexual abuse.
Lambert sexually abused one victim more than 50 times between 2007 and 2018 while the child was between the ages of 6 and 17 years old. Lambert sexually abused the second child while they were between the ages of 6 and 9 years old.
Family members told Lake St. Louis Police Lambert volunteered with the Chesterfield Falcons youth hockey club during that time.
The first victim reportedly told police that he suspected Lambert was abusing a second victim after he came forward, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. Investigators later found hundreds of files on Lambert's electronic devices documenting the abuse of the second victim, along with at least 1,185 other files containing child sexual abuse material.
The victim also told police Lambert took him “all over the place” for hockey games and sporting events including Cardinals games, Blues games, Mizzou football games, hockey tournaments and practices. The former coach reportedly paid for them to help his single mother, according to court documents.
The second victim was allegedly molested between March 2020 and September 2021 when the victim was between the ages of 6 and 7 years old, according to court documents.
Police said Lambert also worked as a volunteer for a youth hockey club in St. Peters in addition to his role as an assistant American Collegiate Hockey Association men's hockey coach for Lindenwood.
