麻豆视频

Score One for the Good Guys: Fighting Child Sexual Abuse

By Lynne Bell

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听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淚 think my life and the lives of many others would have been better had I not been a hockey coach.鈥�-Graham James

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听听听听听听听听听听听 Well, this has to be the understatement of the year. Former junior hockey coach and serial molester of minors, Graham James, keeps resurfacing like the proverbial bad penny.

听听听听听听听听听听听 James has recently been granted day parole with conditions after appearing before the federal parole board in Laval, Que., where he was serving yet another jail term for his crimes. I say 'yet another', because his offences number in the hundreds (300 counts of abuse against hockey player Sheldon Kennedy alone, as well as repeated offences against Theoren Fleury and Todd Holt).听 Certainly, those traumatized by the attacks of the highly manipulative convicted sex offender have, in some cases, waited years before coming forward to report his crimes to law enforcement officials, often on an individual basis. This means: a) James certainly did not initially come clean regarding all of the youth he sexually abused and b) the very nature of Graham James' personality and actions demonstrate that he is still looking out for number one and clearly, he has very little-if any- empathy for his victims.

听听听听听听听听听听听 Even James' statement expressing regret regarding his coaching career states 鈥渕y life鈥� before he directs his attention to 鈥渢he lives of many others.鈥�

听听听听听听听听听听听 And I don't think I'm overstating this. Sheldon Kennedy recently told reporter Drew Medve of Swift Current Online:

听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淚f you look at the way Graham James operates, he is a master manipulator. He manipulates everybody around him and if I look at Swift Current, he manipulated many people, he did so everywhere he went. When he was done serving time in our case, we found him in Spain working with kids. Then where did we find him again? Mexico. Who was his two character witnesses? Two mothers who had four young boys each and talked about what a great guy he is. Teaching them school, buying them gifts, 'he is a great guy' they said. That is deja vu, that is exactly how Graham James operates.鈥�

听听听听听听听听听听听 Whether one believes that James is a genuinely ill man who has the misfortune to suffer from a personality disorder that puts him plainly on the psychiatric spectrum where sexual deviancy and sociopathy collide, or that he is simply the embodiment of evil, the fact remains that children must be protected from the likes of him.

听听听听听听听听听听听 If there is any good news in a case like this, it is that James's matter 鈥渇alls under the laws that would have been in place when the crime was committed, and we have changed the laws,鈥� says Kennedy.

听听听听听听听听听听听 Kennedy also states that James' case can be used as a 鈥減latform to continually change and make the changes we need to make, which is raising awareness about the impact of this crime.鈥�

听听听听听听听听听听听 Through the Calgary-based Sheldon Kennedy Child Advocacy Centre, Kennedy- who has received the Order of Canada for his work- says his mandate now includes educating children, parents and members of the public regarding child protection and abuse prevention.

听听听听听听听听听听听 And Theoren Fleury-who has received numerous honours for his ongoing efforts and听 contributions in combating child sexual abuse and aiding healing and recovery for survivors of such crimes-describes himself as a 鈥渧ictor鈥� rather than a 鈥渧ictim.鈥�

听听听听听听听听听听听 The City of Swift Current has not only issued an apology to Kennedy-but as a first for any community-has also adopted an initiative that requires any adult working with children to obtain a criminal background check as well as undergo training regarding the prevention of bullying and abuse.

听听听听听听听听听听听 It is heartening that every time Graham James makes the news, so do hard-working, committed advocates like Kennedy and Fleury. They are to be commended for their courage in transforming their personal pain and trauma into real societal and legal change.

听听听听听听听听听听听 Score one for the good guys.

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Legal proceedings make for a difficult situation

By Kelly Running

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听听听听听听听听听听听 Last week in the news discussion popped up surrounding Graham James, a disgraced hockey coach, who was granted day parole.

听听听听听听听听听听听 The topic is one that I've read on a little, after all I grew up south of Swift and have gone to Bronco games since I was a youngin. I was born in what was a both a great year for the Broncos, but one which was discovered to have held dark secrets, 1989. They won the Memorial Cup that year, but it was done with James at the helm, a man accused and convicted of sexually abusing several players.

听听听听听听听听听听听 In 1997 James plead guilty to offences against Sheldon Kennedy and two other players. Todd Holt and his cousin, Theo Fleury, then came forward in 2007 which sent James back to jail. In 2015, new charges were laid after a complaint made in September of 2013, which resulted in two additional years being added to his five-year sentence which was being served at the time.

听听听听听听听听听听听 听Last week he was granted a day parole on Monday, which is what the discussion surrounded.

听听听听听听听听听听听 He was apparently seeking full parole, but it was determined that although he has shown remorse that Suzanne Chartrand with the parole board said it couldn't be determined if it was heartfelt.

听听听听听听听听听听听 In Canada the prison system is supposed to be based on rehabilitation and reintroduction, however, the issue with that is, have they really been rehabilitated and how do you know for sure? Does that person feel remorseful for what they did? How can that be gauged and how do you know for sure it or something similar won't happen again?

听听听听听听听听听听听 It's difficult because you want to believe people can change and you hope for the best in situations, but does the system work?

听听听听听听听听听听听 Maybe it does, maybe it doesn't, however, a consideration that I think needs to be addressed is how those survivors of the crime feel about the individual being released. In this case, it wasn't positive according to national news sites.

听听听听听听听听听听听 Theo Fleury tweeted his reaction on Monday: 鈥淏y granting day parole the Canadian justice system just kept more victims of rape silent and feeling more shame today!!!!!鈥�

听听听听听听听听听听听 Sheldon Kennedy, who didn鈥檛 attend the parole hearing, made a statement saying, 鈥淗as he changed? I guess that鈥檚 the question. He said he鈥檚 trying and he can鈥檛 change what he鈥檚 attracted to,鈥� he told The Canadian Press. 鈥淭o me that鈥檚 not words of somebody who鈥檚 really committed to change or remorseful.鈥�

听 听 听 听 听 听听It's a difficult situation when our justice system is set up around rehab and reintroduction to society, but society isn't always willing to accept it.听