ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — Editor's note: This story was published in 2023. Click here to read the most recent coverage of this incident.
A former Lindenwood hockey coach who also coached for two other youth hockey clubs has been charged with multiple counts of child molestation involving at least two of his players – one of whom he molested inside a family bathroom at the Centene Community Ice Center in Maryland Heights.
Police discovered photographic evidence of the second victim while serving a search warrant at the Lake St. Louis home of James Lambert earlier this year on a case involving a victim he allegedly molested between March 2007 and March 2008, according to a source familiar with the investigation.
Family members told Lake St. Louis Police he volunteered with the Chesterfield Falcons youth hockey club during that time. Current leaders from the organization told 5 On Your Side they are not aware of Lambert volunteering with the organization during their administration.
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 say 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.
A spokeswoman for Lindenwood University issued a statement to 5 On Your Side, which read:
"Lindenwood University became aware of this matter involving James Lambert and has been in communication with the Lake St. Louis Police Department. The University has been informed that the charges do not involve Lindenwood University in any way and that Lambert has no prior criminal history. Lambert was an assistant ACHA men’s hockey coach with Lindenwood’s club team, and is no longer employed at Lindenwood."
In that case, Lake St. Louis police said the victim confided in a relative about the abuse, which began when he was 6 years old and continued until he was 17 years old, and feared Lambert overheard the conversation. Lambert then fled to another relative’s house in Momence, Illinois.
In that case, Lambert was 25 years old when the molestation began, according to court documents.
The victim 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.
That victim told police Lambert made him feel “as if it were normal to be inappropriately touched by him” and how he “felt scared to tell anyone because he would tell him that my mother would kill him if she found anything out.”
The victim also told police he believed he had been sexually assaulted more than 50 times over the 9- to 11-year time span at numerous locations, including approximately 14 states and in three different countries.
That victim also told police Lambert recorded some of the molestation, which police found evidence of during the search warrant, according to court documents filed May 24.
St. Charles County Prosecutor Joe McCulloch’s Office filed two counts of statutory sodomy and one count of child molestation against Lambert.
On Monday, St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell’s Office filed two counts of statutory sodomy and one count of sexual exploitation of a child against him for a second victim.
In that case, prosecutors allege he took photos of his crimes, according to court documents.
Police asked a judge to hold him in jail without bail because he tried to die by suicide before he was arrested, according to the documents.
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