((HT: GlobalNational))
Victim statements were heard in open court for the sentencing hearing for disgraced junior hockey coach Graham James.
James pleaded guilty in December to sexually abusing two junior players between 1983 and 1994.
Crown attorney Colleen McDuff gave details of the crimes James committed against Theo Fleury and another former junior player, Todd Holt. Both men agreed to have their names publicized.
Holt read an emotional victim impact statement in court, describing how James ruined his life.
"Graham James took away every part of me that my family had brought me up to be. I will always be left picking up the pieces."
"What that man did to me and many others is the cruellest form of abuse. I want peace, and justice."
James attorney is asking for the equivalent of house arrest while crown attorneys are looking for another six years or so behind bars.
Here's extended interviews with Sheldon Kennedy, one of the first abused by James...
An alleged third victim, Greg Gilhooly, was also in court. But the case against Gilhooly was dismissed in order to get a secured conviction of James.
James had been living in Mexico but agreed to turn himself in to Canadian authorities in late 2010 after Fleury, Holt and Gilhooly went to police. James also had been given a controversial pardon in 2007, but public outcry forced the government to re-examine the pardons guidelines...
Here's CBC's Bob McKeown with one of the best gotchas ever...
Finding James in Mexico...
No comments:
Post a Comment