Graham James Arrested At Pearson Airport
Posted October 27, 2010 6:40 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Winnipeg police have arrested former junior hockey coach Graham James at Pearson airport on sex charges.
Police said in a statement James met them at Pearson through “mutual agreement.” He was brought back to Winnipeg.
Earlier this month, a Canada-wide arrest warrant was issued for James, 58, as part of an investigation into “complaints of historic sexual assaults.”
In 1997, James served three years-and-a-half-years behind bars after pleading guilty to the hundreds of sexual assaults of two boys, including NHL player Sheldon Kennedy while he coached the Moose Jaw Warriors, Swift Current Broncos and Calgary Hitmen.
He was pardoned three years ago, which caused wide outrage when the news became public earlier in 2010. The Harper government has since promised to toughen the rules on pardons as a result of James’ case.
James is now said to be facing nine new charges. Five of these were brought by ex-NHL player Theoren Fleury in his 2009 biography “The Highest Highs and Lowest Lows of Theo Fleury.”
“I think there’s one less predator on the street and he can’t hurt any more kids,” Fleury said Wednesday.
Fleury alleges Graham began molesting him when he was 14 years old. He made a formal complaint with the Winnipeg Police Service in January.
“I understand that it does take a while to put an investigation together, put charges together and whatnot, so I’m pleased at this point with the result of what happened today,” he said from Toronto. “We’ll just keep moving forward and trust in the legal system that we’ll get justice.”
The remainder of the charges involve boys in Winnipeg and Swift Current, Saskatchewan and date back to as far as the late 1970s. The other two complainants can’t be named due to a publication ban.
James’ last known address was in Guadalajara, Mexico.
With files from The Canadian Press
