“James did not appear in court Thursday, as junior lawyers representing the Crown and defence simply got together to set further dates.
Court heard James and his lawyer need more time to discuss his case.”
Note, this case has nothing to do with the thirty sexual assault counts that James was convicted of in 1997. No, these are nine brand new counts that have been brought before authorities for alleged acts committed against three different junior hockey league players between 1979 and 1994. Among the alleged victims are former NHL star Theo Fleury—in his 2009 autobiography “Playing With Fire,” Fleury claimed that he had been abused by James when he was with the Moose Jaw Warriors in the mid-to-late 1980s.
After he was sentenced to a three and a half year sentence for sexually abusing players, he was inexplicably pardoned by the Canadian government. Obviously, Fleury had a comment when the 2007 pardon made news in 2010.
Just as incredible as the pardon, James was quickly able find another job coaching hockey with a team in Spain. Not only did he coach, but he was also an assistant coach on the country’s World C Hockey Championship team in 2001. He eventually disappeared to Mexico before he was eventually forced to face the nine new charges.
We’ll keep you updated as this sad story continues to play out over the next few months.