Disgraced former hockey coach Graham James has been granted full parole.
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“I don’t think this is the last time we are going to hear about Graham James in the news”.
The former coach, 64, was granted partial parole in January, which allowed him to live at a halfway house, before being granted full parole on Thursday.
Schafer said the good thing to come from the situation is that his community is actively working to make a stand for victims of abuse.
Kennedy has founded a ground breaking treatment program for survivors of child sex abuse: sheldonkennedycac.ca, while Fleury is active on the public speaking circuit, sharing his story and providing support to other victims.
The parole board keyed in on impact statements from some victims.
Kennedy and his team mates Theo Fleury, Fleury’s cousin and Todd Holt were among James’ victims.
James told the hearing he managed to justify the acts to himself and that “rational thinking went by the wayside”.
A federal court handed him a seven-year sentence.
James said he “abused his position” and gained a better understanding of that after being “slapped upside the head in therapy” while jailed in 1997.
“I feel ashamed, I feel that I failed the people for whom I had the greatest responsibility and to whom I was closest”, James said.
“I’m quite confident that Graham James will work his way into another family’s life, another organization’s life whether it be in this country or another country”. He served 18 months and was paroled.
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Two more years were tacked on in 2015 after James pleaded guilty to similar charges. Following his release from prison, reporters tracked James to Spain in 2001 where he was coaching youth hockey. “I believe that I have led a life that has moved in that direction”.
