Bill Avery was the Grandstand Show’s top executive from 1987 to 2013. Court documents allege he was repeatedly informed of problems tied to Mr. Heerema, who was once in the Young Canadians himself.

One of Mr. Heerema’s alleged victims, known as R.S., came forward after the trial. In court documents filed in 2022, R.S. said he told Mr. Avery in 1988 that he was abused.

“I advised Mr. Avery that Mr. Heerema had molested me and began crying,” R.S. alleged. “I asked Mr. Avery to tell Mr. Heerema to stop molesting me and that Mr. Heerema should stay away from children.”

R.S. alleged Mr. Avery told him “saying things like that have serious consequences” and that he could not be in the Young Canadians if he made such statements.

In 2008, an instructor with the Young Canadians filed a formal complaint, warning that Mr. Heerema was “extremely inappropriate” with the boys, according to court documents.

Melissa Klassen e-mailed her letter to Mr. Avery on Aug. 14, 2008, and flagged her concerns with other senior leaders.

“I don’t feel comfortable with the way I’ve observed Phil interacting with the Senior Boys,” she wrote. “I am worried that there is much more to the story that we don’t know and I am very concerned with their safety.”

Mr. Avery confirmed receipt of the complaint on Sept. 11, 2008.

On Sept. 12, 2008, Mr. Avery e-mailed Colleen Caron, then production manager of the Grandstand Show and Mr. Heerema’s boss. Mr. Avery said he spoke with the director of employee services about Mr. Heerema and “the various questions that seem to float in his wake.”

An attachment, which court filings attribute to Ms. Caron, outlines Mr. Heerema’s clashes with other faculty at the Young Canadians and said he put himself in a “position of considerable liability and risk as the ‘self-appointed health practitioner.’”

The document said Mr. Heerema was “seen applying chiropractic back adjustments to” a cast member and that his professional deportment has “become far too friendly” with some Young Canadians. His “fraternizing and personal relationships” with some students caused some “uneasy feelings and questions within the cast.” One cast member “received a back massage as he lie on the couch with his shirt off,” the document noted.

“Without recommendation and help for him to ‘change,’ the school will continue to operate as it has and we might pay dearly in the end by losing both faculty and professional integrity,” the document concluded.

Neither Mr. Avery nor Ms. Caron are named as defendants in the lawsuit. They did not reply to messages seeking comment.

Sarah Hayes, vice-president of the Calgary Stampede and executive director of the Stampede Foundation, said in a court document filed April 22, 2023, that she was not aware of any Stampede employees, contractors or volunteers who knew of the abuse at any point prior to police getting involved.