Where are the other victims?

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 14/10/2010 (5787 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

He’s one of three men who have come forward independently to tell police they, too, were assaulted by Graham James many years ago.

And he’s “speechless and sick” more victims haven’t pointed the finger of blame at the former junior hockey coach and convicted sex offender.

“I’m surprised there aren’t more victims… that there are only three, I’m almost in tears here,” said the man, who cannot be named due to a publication ban.

The man, who now lives in Eastern Canada, spoke to the Free Press in an exclusive interview late Wednesday.

“How is there only three?” He is a serial pedophile. And he has a good lawyer and he is going to court to get the best deal he can. I was hoping there was like 20 of us… wished you had told me there were more who came forward,” he said. “I wanted it so overwhelmingly in his face.

“Not that this isn’t (important), it just seems a bit empty.”

James, convicted of hundreds of charges of sexual assault in 1997 and sent to prison for 3 1/2 years, now faces nine new sexual abuse charges dating as far back as the late 1970s that involved boys in Winnipeg and Swift Current, Sask.

Court documents say James, who is believed to be living and working in Mexico, is charged with three counts of sexual assault, three counts of gross indecency, one count of each of attempt to commit buggery, sexual touching and indecent assault.

There was also a Canada-wide warrant issued for James late Wednesday.

Two of those charges involve allegations that more than 30 years ago in Winnipeg he abused the man interviewed by the Free Press. James is charged with “repeated acts of gross indecency” and “repeatedly indecently” assaulting him from September 1979 to June 1980.

Five of the charges involve allegations he sexually assaulted former NHL star Theoren Fleury, while two charges involved another unnamed victim.

The man interviewed by the Free Press said “he has every reason to believe more (victims) are out there.”

The man said James never coached him while he played minor hockey in Winnipeg.

“He was a coach in the same local area — in St. James,” he said. “He coached an older team.”

The man wouldn’t comment on what allegedly happened to him.

He had nothing but praise for investigators in Winnipeg.

“The police have been outstanding,” he said. “They’ve kept me apprised of everything going on (with his case). The police have been amazing through the whole process.”

Meanwhile, Fleury, contacted by the Free Press on Wednesday, said the news was a sign of progress in the high-profile sexual abuse case.

“I feel good about it. We’re one step closer to the end goal, which is not having to think about this anymore,” said Fleury, who learned of the charges Wednesday afternoon during the interview.

“At this point, I just have to trust the justice system that something will happen,” added Fleury, who’s become an outspoken advocate for sexual abuse victims.

“I think, to me, the biggest thing is that, you know, there was enough evidence in my testimony to press charges.”

In 2009, his book Playing With Fire: The Highest Highs and Lowest Lows of Theo Fleury was published, saying James began molesting him when he was 14 years old.

In January of this year, Fleury told media he had filed a complaint with the Winnipeg Police Service, which police confirmed they were pursuing.

James now faces five charges for allegedly abusing Fleury. The charges relate to different periods from 1983 to 1985, with the abuse alleged to have happened in both Winnipeg and Moose Jaw, Sask.

In the other case, he is charged with sexual touching and repeatedly sexually assaulting a victim from May 1989 to April 1994 in Swift Current.

On Wednesday, James’ lawyer Evan Roitenberg said police have never spoken to his client as far as he knows. He added investigators never contacted him to arrange a meeting with James.

“The police have been aware that all they have to do if they wish to speak with Mr. James is to let me know,” said Roitenberg.

He said his client wasn’t trying to evade the law, and doesn’t understand why police would have to make any effort to get his client to return to Canada to face charges.

“I don’t expect any need for that will arise,” he said.

Gary Botting, a British Columbia lawyer who’s published four books on extradition law, said it could be years before James is extradited from Mexico to Canada, if ever.

“It’s not going to be easy to get him back,” said Botting.

Winnipeg police did not comment extensively on the case Wednesday.

“Our goal is to arrest and bring this individual before the courts,” WPS spokesman Const. Jason Michalyshen said.

Back in May, WPS Chief Keith McCaskill said James was being treated as a “person of interest” by the sex crimes unit and that he was being co-operative with investigators.

James was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison in 1997 after he pleaded guilty to hundreds of sexual assaults involving two teenage hockey players under his influence. One of them was Sheldon Kennedy, who also went on to play in the NHL.

It was Kennedy and an unnamed individual who finally went to police in 1996, leading to the original charges.

The National Parole Board granted James a pardon in 2007.

Kennedy co-founded Respect in Sport, which teaches people involved in sports awareness about abuse and bullying.

“I think you’re dealt a hand of cards in life and it’s how you play them,” he said. “I’ve chosen not to fight this, I had to accept the fact that this is my life, and it’s not going away and how do I best deal with it?”

 

— with files from Mike McIntyre

gabrielle.giroday@freepress.mb.ca jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca