AJHL & other organizations comment on sexual exploitation investigation

The team said it terminated his employment when it found out the RCMP was investigating him.

RCMP announced Monday that they began investigating King in 2024, around the time he left the Okotoks Oilers, a team in southern Alberta that also plays in the British Columbia Hockey League.

After working in Okotoks, King went to the BCHL’s Nanaimo team and eventually wound up teaching sports journalism at a university in New York State.

Last week, police arrested King at a U.S. border crossing in Ontario and charged him with sexual exploitation offences involving three underage junior A hockey players.

RCMP said the 39-year-old had worked with various teams across Alberta, Ontario and British Columbia.

The Nanaimo Clippers said that the allegations don’t relate to his time with the team.

“We have not received, and are not aware of, any complaints or concerns regarding his conduct during his brief time with the Clippers,” the team said.

“The safety and well-being of our players, billet families and young fans is our highest priority. We have contacted the RCMP to offer our full co-operation to the extent it is needed.”

The league confirmed in a separate statement that “upon learning of the accusations, his BCHL team immediately terminated his employment.”

The league did not immediately respond when asked whether it knew about the allegations when he left the Okotoks team and was hired in Nanaimo.

“Although he only spent a brief few months in the BCHL, we have fully supported the RCMP’s investigation of this matter,” the league said.  

Mounties have said the Okotoks Oilers reported in June 2024 that a former employee had allegedly solicited and compensated players for intimate images and sexual videos.

A statement published on the team’s website around the same time announced King was leaving his job.

“The Okotoks Oilers would like to thank Tyler King for his tireless efforts during his three seasons in our organization as Assistant GM, Business Operations,” said the June 2024 statement.

The page, which has since been taken down, said King had been in charge of overseeing all off-ice operations.

It said King also served as the main play-by-play voice of the team on The Eagle 100.9 FM in Okotoks and online streaming platforms during his second and third seasons with the team.

The three complainants, all under 18 at the time of the allegations, were junior A players from Saskatchewan and Alberta.

Alberta RCMP Cpl. Gina Slaney said in an interview Tuesday that Mounties couldn’t warn the Nanaimo team about the allegations, because King wasn’t officially facing charges when he was hired by Nanaimo.

“We cannot legally or lawfully do that if we don’t have evidence to support charges or if charges haven’t been pursued,” she said.

RCMP said King, who was arrested Friday, had been working with the State University of New York campus at Oswego in New York state. He is to return later this week to Alberta to face charges of luring, sexual exploitation and making child pornography.

The university said King joined the school in 2025 as a professor of practice with its communications studies department. Late Monday, the university’s student-run television station announced that King had been removed from his position as an adviser with the group.  

“WTOP-10 TV has been made aware of serious charges made in regards to Tyler King,” it said in a social media post.

“We were unaware of the allegations while he was with our club. We fully do not condone or support the actions described in these charges.”  

Court records show King was also charged with choking in November 2025 at or near Calgary. He was further charged in February with failing to appear in court and failing to comply with a release order.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 3, 2026.

by Tanner Smith with files from The Canadian Press

AJHL & other organizations comment on sexual exploitation investigation

What's Happening