2001 Archives, Page 2

"I don't expect to see a lot of things happening this year with the archives, but you never know. I just hope that quiet is a good thing, but as we all know, silence can mean something very bad."

I wrote the above statement back in early January of 2001 before this news broke in April of 2001.

The prophecy is always true. Silence has meant something very bad. It was too silent in Sheldon's life, so I guess Graham James has decided to stir things up one more time, this time with a new coaching job in Madrid, Spain. Enough said.

If you skip across anything for the 2001 archives, please don't hesitate to email me. Any and all contributions are greatly appreciated. Thanks!

The 2001 archives are below.

Many thanks to Meg for the heads-up about this year's archives.

Page 2

Don't Give James A Chance to Ruin Other Young Lives

No Sentence Long Enough

Club Defends James, But Future Unclear

Predator A Coach Again

James Saga Lingers

Abusers to be Targeted

Hungary Said No To James

Graham James Coaching In Spain

Outside The Lines: Broken Trust
(Transcript from ESPN.com)

About Mark Korven
(put together the musical score for The Sheldon Kennedy Story)

Clubs' Manager Warns Against Targeting James

Spanish Club Defends Hiring of Pedophile

Spain Won't Stop Pedophile From Coaching

Don't Give James A Chance to Ruin Other Young Lives
JOE McLAUGHLIN
Advocate Staff
4/30/01

Its an outrage that Graham James is back coaching hockey again.
Its an even greater shock that the people who hired him know about his history of sexual abuse, and are allowing him to coach boys as young as 10 in Spain.

They say there are safeguards in place to prevent the kind of tragedy that befell Sheldon Kennedy and who knows how many other impressionable young boys who fell under James control and authority.

They're wrong. James is a calculating sexual predator.

Every Tuesday and Thursday for six years, starting when Kennedy was 14 or 15, James ordered him to come to his house, and subjected him to sexual degradation.

He considered me his wife, Kennedy said later. There was nowhere to turn.

Finally in 1996, more than decade after the abuse began, Kennedy got the courage to come forward to the police.

In January 1997, James was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison for sexually assaulting Kennedy and another unidentified hockey player.

James says he has finished his jail sentence for sexually assaulting Kennedy, has completed his debt to society and deserves a new start.

Hes wrong.

James never deserves a chance to coach young hockey players again. When he was convicted for assaulting Kennedy, he was banned for life from coaching by the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association.

Under international rules, that ban is supposed to be honoured by hockey federations around the world, including the one in Spain.

The lax attitude of Spanish hockey management towards James boggles the mind. The man who hired him says he is comfortable letting James coach his young son.

Clearly, he does'nt know the real Graham James.

Its safe to say that James doesnt know himself. Hes still in denial about the effects of the abuse he inflicted on Kennedy.

He never thought sexually abusing Kennedy was a big deal, and was shocked when Kennedy went to the police.

Did I expect Sheldon Kennedy to do this? he said later. Absolutely not. Sheldon and I were close. . . He legitimately cared. . . . Maybe Im just trying to legitimize things myself, but at no time did I think it was a major thing for him.

That statement tells you all you ever need to know about James.

He's cold, calculating and selfish.

Sure hes an effective coach. Part of coaching is getting players to do things they dont want to; do things they didnt think they could do.

But good coaches do that for the players growth and benefit, not for their own personal gratification.

Being repeatedly sexually assaulted as a boy was a huge thing for Kennedy and for the other victims whose names we dont know.

It destroyed Kennedys chances for a normal life and his prospects for a productive hockey career.

It made him lonely and suspicious. It made him seethe with rage that frequently exploded. It led him to turn to alcohol to mask his pain. Kennedy is still trying to turn his life around.

If he wishes, James deserves a chance to turn his life around as well. But never again does he deserve to be entrusted with the bodies and psyches of young people.

-Joe McLaughlin

No Sentence Long Enough
Monday, April 30, 2001
By ERIC FRANCIS -- Calgary Sun

Graham James served his time, yes.

But given the life sentences he dealt to those he abused, there's no justice -- and little common sense -- in allowing him back into the environment in which his deviations were facilitated.

Sickened at having to re-open a James file I hoped never to see again, I spent yesterday reading over the agreed statement of facts that were presented in a Calgary courtroom on Jan. 2, 1997.

Somehow, the graphic descriptions of his twisted sexual exploits -- and the methodical mind-games that gave birth to them -- are even more disturbing now that he's back in a position of authority amongst boys in the Madrid suburb of Majadahonda.

As I can confirm from a conversation I had with James days after he was incarcerated, it's doubtful he has come to grips with his wrongdoings. Insisting the number of sexual assaults was roughly half of the 350 admitted in court as fact, James claimed he agreed to the original figure to spare Sheldon Kennedy and the other victim from taking the witness stand. Citing a genuine relationship had been formed with one of his victims -- albeit on tainted ground -- he also insisted the youngster deserved a portion of blame. He just doesn't get it.

A great hockey coach, who earned nothing but my respect and admiration while he owned and operated the Calgary Hitmen, James' brilliance allowed him to fool the hockey world for years. He's an extremely intelligent, manipulative man.

With Spanish authorities aware of his past and monitoring him closely, I have no doubt his ability to abuse again will be extremely limited.

Yet, what disturbs me most is the fact he's once again doing what he loves while his victims spend a lifetime battling demons.

Some say justice has been served.

I beg to differ.

Club Defends James, but Future Unclear
Associated Press, Canadian Press
Tuesday, May 1, 2001

Madrid -- A Spanish club is defending its decision to hire Canadian Graham James, but says the convicted sex offender's coaching future with the team is unclear. Juan Francisco Bravo, co-ordinator of the Majadahonda hockey club, said the media attention surrounding James's employment amounts to an unfair second round of punishment. But because of the controversy, Bravo said, it is not clear whether James will be retained for next season. The team has made arrangements under which James does not shower with players and has his own dressing room, Bravo said.

Predator A Coach Again
Tuesday, May 1, 2001

From the editorial desk of The Edmonton Journal:
It is in everyone's interest that prison inmates, having done their time, find work and become productive citizens. However, the news that Graham James, a sexual predator convicted of abusing teenage hockey players, is again coaching hockey is disturbing.

James's criminal actions were an integral part of his position as a hockey coach. Coaching hockey players, of any age and in any country, is the last thing he should be doing.

Graham James was a sexual predator for a long time. The cure rate for pedophiles is low. His job is coaching an adult team in Spain, not teenagers. Still, the job gives him entree into the hockey world again, in the powerful role of coach that he abused so outrageously in Canada.

Given the harm that Graham James did to Sheldon Kennedy and others, he should not coach hockey ever again. If the Spanish hockey team doesn't agree, it should at least keep a careful eye on this man and make sure he's never given power over teenage boys. - Southam

James Saga Lingers
Former Broncos coach still in the news
5/1/01
By ROB VANSTONE
Regina Leader-Post

SWIFT CURRENT -Graham James left here in 1994, but he won't go away.

James -- who was convicted in 1997 of sexually assaulting Sheldon Kennedy and another former Swift Current Broncos player -- is making news again.

It was revealed Thursday that James is coaching hockey in Spain.

"It feels like it will never end,'' laments Trent McCleary, a lifelong resident of Swift Current who played for the James-coached Broncos from 1989 to 1993.

"It keeps coming back. On Thursday, I saw his face on the TV screen and I thought, 'Here we go again.' It takes a little piece out of everybody.''

There was little peace for residents of Swift Current four years ago, when James' dark past became fodder for public consumption.

Suddenly, Swift Current was in the centre of a firestorm -- even though the central figure was long gone.

Reporters from across Canada and the United States descended upon Swift Current. The James story appeared in USA Today and Sports Illustrated.

People who had never heard of the Western Hockey League -- let alone Swift Current -- were buzzing around this southwestern Saskatchewan community, demanding answers.

You had to feel some compassion for the kind people of Swift Current, who had become all too accustomed to bad-news stories.

On Dec. 30, 1996, a bus crash killed four Broncos players -- Trent Kresse, Scott Kruger, Chris Mantyka and Brent Ruff.

Days after the 10th anniversary of that tragedy, the sickening details of James' predatory behaviour became public knowledge.

It was, quite understandably, a huge and explosive story . . . one without a final chapter.

Nobody should forget what Graham James did. The James saga has heightened awareness of sexual abuse and led to the creation of additional safeguards.

The latest James story demonstrates that some people are not getting the message.

Spanish hockey officials, in their finite wisdom, are seemingly unconcerned about James' background. They are allowing him to coach teenagers.

"I don't know how he got that position, or even how he got into the country,'' McCleary says. "You've really got to wonder what they're thinking.

"When I heard that he was coaching again, I thought, 'You've got to be kidding me!' Why would the people with the Spanish team subject themselves to those accusations?''

That is an excellent question -- one which has been pondered in Swift Current, albeit begrudgingly.

"There's talk about it in the back alleys,'' McCleary says. "Nobody really wants to talk about it anymore. People ask me about it because I was basically there since Day 1. Nobody believes what's happening. It's outrageous.

"Everybody wants it to be done and buried, but it seems like something happens every year and it's back in the news.''

Along with the inevitable, unavoidable references to Swift Current.

This city is newsworthy for other reasons.

Swift Current boasts one of the WHL's best organizations.

The Broncos would not survive in the CHL's smallest market without the selflessness of Swift Current's residents.

They can attest to the quality of life -- which, a few years back, resulted in Swift Current being named one of the top 10 Canadian cities in which to live.

Swift Current is a nice city with terrific people -- exemplary citizens such as Trent McCleary.

"This is a city of 15,000 and it has been 15,000 for a long time,'' says McCleary, a former NHL player who scouts for the Montreal Canadiens. "Everybody knows everybody. Everybody knows the Broncos. It's a city where everybody helps each other.''

That attitude helped the people of Swift Current rise above the James scandal. Having done so, they would like to turn the page.

But, periodically, there are reminders -- such as this column, for example.

"People don't really want to talk about it because it's a touchy subject,'' McCleary says. "It ruined lives. It has been four years, and it has felt like an eternity.

"I wish it would go away, but I don't think it ever will. No, I don't think it ever will . . .''

Abusers To Be Targeted
ALAN ADAMS
Special to The Globe and Mail
Wednesday, May 2, 2001

HANOVER, GERMANY -- The president of the International Ice Hockey Federation says the world governing body will devise a way to prevent convicted sexual predators, such as Graham James, from coaching in any of its member federations.

"The feeling here at the world championships is we do not want people like that in our system, and everybody is in favour of that," Rene Fasel said yesterday.

James, 49, was sentenced to 31/2 years in a Canadian prison for sexually abusing two hockey players while coaching the Swift Current Broncos of the Western Hockey League.

He was later convicted of molesting a 14-year-old boy in Winnipeg in 1971.

He completed his sentence nine months ago and is banned for life by the Canadian Hockey Association from coaching in Canada. But James applied for hockey jobs outside of Canada last summer, and it was revealed in a Globe and Mail story last week that he was working for a hockey organization in Majadahonda near Madrid as well as serving as an assistant coach for the Spanish national team at the recent world C championship.

While IIHF members honour suspensions handed to players, there is nothing in place that compels them to honour suspensions handed to coaches.

"We have to close that loophole," Fasel said.

Hungary Said No To James
Canadian pedophile didn't try to hide conviction when looking for employment
DAVID NAYLOR
With a file from Ignatio Tenna
Saturday, May 5, 2001

Convicted sexual offender Graham James was turned down for employment by the Hungarian Ice Hockey Federation 18 months ago, before landing his current job as a coach in Spain.

Zoltan Kovacs, the general secretary of the Hungarian Ice Hockey Federation, said he received a letter from James in late 1999 or early 2000 that made no secret of his problems in Canada.

Kovacs said the letter informed the Hungarian federation that James, a former Swift Current Broncos and Calgary Hitmen head coach, had been convicted of sexually abusing players and was sentenced to 31/2 years in prison.

"In the second part of his letter, he stated that it was a sexual crime," Kovacs said. "He did not go into detail but it was mentioned he was in jail for 3.5 years for molesting or hurting younger hockey players. It seemed he desperately wanted a coaching position because he was not able to coach in the U.S. or Canada"

That information, along with follow-up conversations with members of the International Ice Hockey Federation and Canadian Hockey Association, ended Kovac's interest in James, despite the fact his federation was very interested in bringing over a Canadian coach.

"His offer was quite attractive to us, but the IIHF and others told us what happened with him. There was no question of us putting him in charge of children, so we sent him a reply saying no."

James, 49, was sentenced for sexually abusing two hockey players while coaching Swift Current of the Western Hockey League. He was later convicted of molesting a 14-year-old boy in Winnipeg in 1971. He completed his sentence nine months ago, and the CHA barred him for life from coaching in Canada.

"I am surprised Spain hired him," Kovacs said. "When I told [our] story to the IIHF, they were very surprised because they hadn't heard of other countries [being approached]."

The issue of the hiring of James by the Spanish club Majadahonda is expected to be front and centre when the IIHF meets next week in Hanover, Germany, the site of this year's world hockey championship and annual congress.

IIHF president Rene Fasel said this week that the world governing body will devise a way to prevent convicted sexual predators such as James from coaching in any of its member federations.

While IIHF members honour suspensions handed to players, there is nothing in place that compels them to honour suspensions handed to coaches. The Spanish club has reacted defiantly to the criticism being aimed at it, especially from the Canadian media. They insist James has been an exemplary coach in all ways since arriving in Spain early this season.

"The IIHF has never worried about Spanish hockey and now they will start to worry," said Francisco Bravo, the vice-president of the Majadahonda club. "If he [James] is punished, it is simply because he is being used as an example."

This week, the team's leaders held a meeting of parents whose boys are playing under James and made a decision not to discuss the issue with anyone. Afterward they reiterated they are satisfied with the James performance and that the issue is over at least until the IIHF meets next week."

Luis Algar, the head of the Royal Spanish Federation of Winter Sports, which oversees ice hockey in the country, wants the IIHF to deal with the issue surrounding James next week.

Earlier, he said his organization has no power to stop a private hockey club from hiring whomever it wants.

"In Canada, they suspended him for life, but here they have to treat this matter as an international problem," Algar said. "We have to know not just what will happen to Graham James, but this case will set a precedent for what to do in the future."

Graham James Coaching in Spain
By Allan Maki

On the day he learned his abuser was back in hockey and coaching again, Sheldon Kennedy taught his daughter how to ride a bike.
"I guess she did okay," Kennedy said with a laugh. "She has no scars."

The same can't be said for the 31-year-old who was abused by James through most of the 1980's as a youth hockey player. Kennedy was shocked to learn April 25 that James had resurfaced as coach o a Spanish men's team.

James, 49, spent this past season as head coach of Majadahonda (near Madrid) and was an assistant with the Spanish national team that recently placed second to Korea at the World C championship. That he was coaching anywhere was news to Kennedy and the Canadian Hockey Association, which banned James for life after his January 2, 1997 conviction for abusing Kennedy and another player.

James was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prision for sexual attacks while coach-GM of the Western League Swift Current Broncos. He completed that sentence last July (webmistress' note: he did not "complete" it...he served 22 months...not even 2 years of it.) before sending out applications and accepting a coacing job in Spain.

"I'm not going to sit back and say it's okay, he's not coaching in Canada," said Kennedy, who was hired in April to work with the CHA's 'Speak Out Program' and continue the crusade against child abuse in hockey. "We'll see what happens. I'll definately not let it go if he's involved with kids...I'll do whatever I can to make sure he's out of the game."

CHA president Bob Nicholson said he was told January 12 James was coaching in Portugal or Spain and that he called the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) to learn if that was true. The IIHF determined that it was, but decided that it could do nothing to prevent the former Memorial Cup-winning coach from working in Spain. A listing of team rosters and officials on the IIHF's website has James' name transposed as James Graham, assistant coach of Team Spain.

"It's- how do you say?- it's not easy toi handle it." said IIHF president Rene Fasel. "I have four kids of my own. I know what happened...we did everything we could do and the spanish people knew. What can we do more? There's no legal way to stop him from coaching a man's team."

Murray Costello, Canada's IIHF's council member, was hoping the IIHF would uphold the CHA's suspension of James. He intends to push the issue during the IIHF's congress set for May 9.

"I have been on record saying we should honor suspensions from different federations, but that is not the case yet," Costello said. "I'm going to bring it to the attention of the council."

Kennedy's concerns revolve around his family and helping other children avoid the demons that ravaged is life.

"I'm positive I could still be playing. There were a lot of factors involved, and a lot of it was from what Graham did to me," said Kennedy, who lives in Calgary and last played for Boston in 1997. "He's still doing what he wanted to do. He's coaching a national team. It's bothersome."

James' other victim has never been named and is waiting for word on his legal action against the Broncos, the WHL, CHA and 16 defendants. The player and his parents have filed separate suits seeking an undisclosed amount of money in damages as well as a public accountability. The suit is in pre-trial stage.

About Mark Korven

Edmonton singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and film maker Mark Korven was raised in Winnipeg and began playing guitar at the age of 12 eventually graduating to loud bar bands at by the age of 17. He soon grew tired of playing as loud as possible and discovered other forms of expression, first delving into progressive rock groups such as Genesis & King Crimson, then into 70's jazz fusion groups such as Return To Forever and The Mahavishnu Orchestra.

He relocated to Edmonton in 1977 to begin formal music education at Grant MacEwan College in Edmonton where he studied jazz arranging and composition, with guitar as principal instrument. It was around this time period that he began writing original, jazz fusion-based material.

BR> After completing music studies in the early 1980's, he became a "hired gun" guitarist freelancing around Edmonton for rock bands, wedding bands, country bands, avante guarde jazz groups, lounge acts, and an electrified Indian fusion group called the Kirana Orchestra with bassist George Koller.

He co-produced his debut album, 'Passengers', in 1984 for the Rave label. In 1985 Korven was co-winner of the annual David Foster songwriting contest with his song "Be Bop Tonight". 1986 saw his song "Clock On The Wall" make the finals in the annual K-97 Homegrown contest. The win and the song led to a deal with Stony Plain Records and the tune was released as a single.

After relocating to Toronto, Korven signed his eclectic brand of eccentric pop to the more suitable Duke Street Records and co-producer John Switzer (Jane Siberry) helped Korven shape his 1987 album 'Ordinary Man'.

The album led to a 'Most Promising Male Vocalist Of The Year' Juno nomination. Through Switzer, Korven moved away from solo performing and began scoring movie soundtracks beginning with Patricia Rozema's 'I Heard The Mermaids Singing' in 1989.

Korven then scored three documentaries followed by Rozema's 'White Room' in 1990 and 'Sam & Me'. In 1991 he completed work on the Sunrise Films feature 'New Man In' and John Pozer's 'The Grocer's Wife' which soon found himself experimenting with stop-motion animation. His first experiment was the 1992 four minute segment for his tune 'Madman On A Rooftop' which was the first single released from his own Radar Records album 'This Must Be The Place'. The video received a Golden Sheaf award nomination at the Yorkton Film Festival.

In 1993 Korven was nominated for 'Best Score' Genie Award for his work on 'The Grocer's Wife'. 1998 saw Korven scoring the critically acclaimed Canadian film 'Cube'.

Today Korven lives with his girlfriend, also a composer, in the Beaches area of Toronto. When he's not writing music he practices violin, Esraj (an Indian bowed instrument) and Erhu (a Chinese violin). He is also developing a screenplay entitled "Skinner's Box" with fellow musician Tony Duggan Smith (Pukka Orchestra).

With notes from Mark Korven and Riccardo Iancer

DISCOGRAPHY

Singles
1986 Clock On The Wall/Be Bop Tonight (Stony Plain/RCA)

1987 Ordinary Man (Duke Street/MCA)

1992 Madman On A Rooftop (Radar)

CDs
1984 Passengers (Rave)

1987 Ordinary Man (Duke Street)

1992 This Must Be The Place (Radar)

Video clips
1987 Ordinary Man

1992 Madman On A Rooftop

Compilations/Other
1986 "Clock On The Wall" on 'K-97 Homegrown' (K-97) - compilation

Awards
1991 Gemini Award nomination for 'Between 2 Worlds'
1991 Genie Award nomination for 'White Room' (Best Score)
1991 Genie Award nomination for 'Hello, I Am Nobody' (Best Song)
1991 Genie Award nomination for 'Certain Slant Of Light' (Best Song)

1992 Gemini Award nomination for 'Grand Larceny'
1992 Genie Award nomination for 'The Grocer's Wife'

1994 Gemini Award nomination for 'The Lucky Ones'
1994 Genie Award nomination for 'Henry & Verlin'

1995 Genie Award nomination for 'The Michelle Apartments'
1995 Hot Docs nomination for 'The Tenure of Dr. Fabrikant'

1996 Hot Docs nomination for 'Summer In The Cherry Orchard'

1997 Gemini Award nomination for 'Summer In The Cherry Orchard'

1998 Gemini Award nomination for 'A Scattering Of Seeds'
1998 Gemini Award nomination for 'Before Their Time'

1999 Gemini Award nomination for 'A Scattering Of Seeds 2'
1999 Gemini Award nomination for 'Win Again!'
1999 Genie award nomination for 'Cube'
1999 Hot Docs nomination for 'Before Their Time'

2000 Gemini Award nomination for 'The Sheldon Kennedy Story'

official site:
www.markkorven.com

Clubs' Manager Warns Against Targeting James
Could start 'a big mess': Spanish team says parents happy with pedophile coach
Charlie Gillis
National Post

Spanish sport authorities say they have no plans -- and no power -- to stop Graham James from coaching adolescent hockey players in that country, despite the revelation of the convicted sex offender's criminal past.

But disgruntled parents could use Mr. James's record against him now that the issue is receiving publicity, says the club manager supervising the disgraced coach.

"You've got to be careful because they can start making a big mess," said Francisco Bravo in an interview yesterday. "They could say, 'He fondled my son,' or something like that. I've been in sports for 20 years and I've been through a lot of things."

Mr. Bravo, co-ordinator of the Majadahonda hockey club, spoke after Spanish media published the fact he had hired Mr. James to coach players as young as nine.

Mr. James, 49, has been a maligned figure in Canadian hockey since he pleaded guilty in 1996 to sexually assaulting his own players as a junior- and minor-league coach. Sheldon Kennedy and an unnamed player were assaulted while Mr. James coached the Western Hockey League's Swift Current Broncos.

Mr. James was later convicted of molesting a 14-year-old boy in Winnipeg in 1971.

The assaults resulted in a 3 1/2-year term in prison, which Mr. James completed in July, and a permanent black eye on the amateur hockey establishment, which was accused of leaving youngsters vulnerable to Mr. James.

Predictably, his presence in Spain prompted swift reaction in Canada, with Mr. Kennedy promising to try to dislodge Mr. James from any post in which he oversees children. The Canadian Hockey Association took pains to point out it warned the International Ice Hockey Federation about Mr. James's past.

The reaction in Spain was muted by comparison.

Stories about Mr. James appeared deep in the sports sections of major newspapers, and Mr. Bravo spent considerably more time fielding calls from Canadian than Spanish reporters.

"It's a different country, and I guess people see things differently here," he said. "Maybe because we have terrorism and a lot of other stuff, it's a totally different psychology.

"If he were to reoffend, it would be totally different. Maybe the reaction would even be worse than one could imagine, that they would stone him or something, I don't know."

Mr. Bravo said he consulted five parents in the club, all of whom want Mr. James to keep teaching their youngsters -- even if his presence generates negative publicity.

With two games left in their season, they are impressed with how Mr. James fulfilled promises to avoid unsupervised contact with the boys, Mr. Bravo said.

"I don't know what's going to happen at the end of all of this, what the IIHF is going to say, or what's going to happen. But at this moment, the sub-18 parents and the other parents don't want to hear that this guy has to go. That's what they've told me."

Luis Algar, president of the Royal Spanish Federation of Winter Sports, said Majadahonda was within its right to hire Mr. James, and can retain his services next season if it wishes.

"We cannot stop this," he said, "because the law in Spain is that this is a private club and a private club's decision about whether or not to continue with him is theirs and not the Spanish federation's."

Spanish Club Defends Hiring of Pedophile
Molested his players: 'James's truth is a different truth from Kennedy's truth'
Marina JimÈnez and Sean Fitz-Gerald, with files from Charlie Gillis
National Post
Mike Sturk, Calgary Herald

A Spanish hockey club that hired Graham James, who sexually abused two teenage Canadian players, defended the "extraordinary" coach yesterday and said he never attempted to hide his criminal past.

Mr. James will not re-offend, said Francisco Bravo, co-ordinator of the Majadahonda Hockey Club, who has such faith in his employee that he allows him to coach all age groups, including Mr. Bravo's 10-year-old son.

"I know who this guy is. I freaked out when I heard he was available. I believe that people can change and should be given a second chance," said Mr. Bravo, who hired Mr. James in September. "I told the parents to trust me because I'm trusting James."

Mr. Bravo lived in Canada for 20 years and is familiar with Mr. James's case.

Mr. James, 49, was banned for life from coaching amateur hockey in Canada after pleading guilty to committing 350 sexual acts as a minor-league coach. Sheldon Kennedy and an unnamed junior player were assaulted while Mr. James coached the Western Hockey League's Swift Current Broncos. In 1997, Mr. James was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison. He completed the sentence in July.

Bob Nicholson, president of the Canadian Hockey Association, said his organization notified the International Ice Hockey Federation of the coach's history, but was advised by legal counsel not to pursue the issue further.

Mr. Kennedy said he will work to have his former coach removed from his job if he is involved with young players.

"The whole thing has kind of caught me off guard," Mr. Kennedy said in a conference call last night. "It's definitely bothersome that Graham is in the game somewhere else."

Mr. Bravo, who received Mr. James's rÈsumÈ from the Royal Spanish Federation of Winter Sports, downplayed his crimes, saying, "James's truth is a different truth from Kennedy's truth."

When asked to explain, Mr. Bravo said he accepted that Mr. James "had a relationship with young men" that was against the law, but did not accept that the former Canadian coach "played with young people's minds" or abused his position of authority.

"I've taken showers with 14- and 15-year-old boys and maybe we had a soccer game with a bar of soap and you could make something big out of it," Mr. Bravo said. "I may feel very attracted to girls who are 16 and I'm 39. But in Canada and Spain you have to put a border on these things. You have to respect society's rules."

Mr. James, who earns about $1,000 a month in his new job, declined to be interviewed, saying through Mr. Bravo that "people don't accept that others can change."

Mr. James also worked for a week in April as assistant coach for the Spanish national hockey team during the World C Championship hosted by the Majadahonda club, just outside Madrid. "He didn't coach young people," noted Luis Algar, president of the federation of winter sports, which is a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation, based in Switzerland.

At the private club in Majadahonda, however, Mr. James coaches boys of all ages, including those in the under-18 league, with players as young as 15, and three more minor leagues with players as young as nine. Mr. James does not shower with the players, has his own dressing room, is never alone with players and has his own hotel room while the team is on the road.

"He is taking precautions. It's not that he doesn't trust himself, but he doesn't want people saying anything," Mr. Bravo said. "He doesn't think he'll have those temptations because of the hell he's been through. I wouldn't do anything to put the kids at risk."

He said some parents were ill at ease when he first hired Mr. James, but were prepared to give him a chance. "He never tried to hide the truth," Mr. Bravo said. "The psychologists said he can work with children."

For his courage in making his case public, Mr. Kennedy was named Canada's newsmaker of the year in 1997 by The Canadian Press and Broadcast News.

That year also saw an end to the right-winger's eight-year NHL career, as he played his final game with the Boston Bruins.

At the end of his NHL tenure, which featured stints in Detroit and Calgary, Mr. Kennedy finished with just 310 games played and a disappointing 107 points.

His descriptions of life with Mr. James shocked hockey fans in Canada and the United States.

"He kept me with him all the time, on all the trips. It was like we were married," Mr. Kennedy was quoted as saying in Crossing the Line: Violence and Sexual Assault in Canada's National Sport, a book written by Canadian Laura Robinson and released in 1998.

Spain Won't Stop Pedophile From Coaching
Teaching adolescents: Manager says parents satisfied with James
Charlie Gillis
National Post