Graham James sentenced to two years for abuse of Fleury, Holt

[Resolute 14]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manito...-sentence.html

Pretty sad, really. Was following the judge's comments on Twitter, and one of the things she said she had to weigh was what James would have gotten if Holt and Fleury were known victims the first time around. So really, what she ultimately said was that the sexual abuse of four children is worth only 5.5 years. What it also says is that any other victims aren't likely to receive any justice if they subsequently step forward themselves.

[troutman]

CBC News Alerts ‏ @CBCAlerts
James' victim Todd Holt calls 2-year sentence 'a travesty' . Holt and cousin Theo Fleury abused by #James #NHL

Amber Schinkel ‏ @AmberSchinkel
Theo Fleury & Todd Holt won't be in #Winnipeg for Graham James sentencing. Sheldon Kennedy will be; we'll talk w/ him after 6:30 #YYC

Calgary Sun ‏ @calgarysun
RT @SUNbillkaufmann: After 2-year sentence for Graham James, victim Todd Holt predicts his assailant will offend again

[dustyanddaflames]

Terrible, just a complete joke of a justice system

[calumniate]

Maybe Shanny is handing out the sentencing?

[trumpethead]

Sadly we have come to expect this from the Cdn justice system.

[CaptainCrunch]

Disgusting, its not like this guy was sincerely sorry for what he did. He's a pedophile, its in his nature to molest kids, and its not his fault (he thinks) its in his nature.

I remember reading an Eric Fancis interview where the creep was proud that he bought love to so many people.

these people can't change these people anymore then you can turn a gay man straight and a straight man gay, its part of their sexual makeup.

Why even bother giving him two years, he'll be out in 6 months tops free to bugger more victim.

The piece of sh%t should just kill himself and spare any future victims.

[Joborule]

And you wonder why people consider the Canadian justice system a joke.

[Rerun]

Its a joke of a sentence. He'll be living in a halfway house and walking the streets 60 days from today!

A 24 month sentence means he will be eligable for full parole after serving one third (8 months) of his sentence. He will also be eligible for day parole 6 months before his full parole eligability....


From Corrections Canada website...

Day parole (DP) gives you a chance to participate in community-based activities while serving your sentence (e.g. employment, volunteer work, studies). This will p repare you for release on full parole or statutory release. While on day parole, you must return to your community-based residential facility at the end of each day. You must meet regularly with a Parole Officer.
For day parole , most offenders are eligible 6 months before their full parole eligibility date.

Full parole (FP) lets you serve the rest of your sentence under supervision in the community. While on full parole you are normally allowed to live on your own but you'll need to report to a Parole Officer on a regular basis.
For full parole , most offenders are eligible at 1/3 of their sentence , or 7 years , whichever is less.

[photon]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

these people can't change these people anymore then you can turn a gay man straight and a straight man gay, its part of their sexual makeup.

You can't change them, but just because it's part of their sexual makeup doesn't mean they have to act out on it. There are pedophiles who just live with their condition but never act out on it because they understand that even though it's not something they can help or change, they will cause harm if they act out on it.

He should be put away longer because he's shown that he doesn't care about the harm acting out causes (unless something about the case convinced the judge that he's reached that point, I haven't read anything about it though so no idea).

[TheyCallMeBruce]

Where's dexter when we need him?

[kipperiggy]

Could somebody explain why the judge said she had to weigh what James would have gotten the first time around if Fleury and Holt were known victims? Why does that matter? Why can't she throw him away for the max sentence for the crimes against these two new victims?

[CedarMeter]

Unreal..Just take him out behind the barn and shoot this ####### already.

[dino7c]

he will be out in eight months

[GFG4Life]

I didn't care that they were not allowing camera's in the court room, cause i didn't want to see his ugly face, nor did I want to see it for a long time... but only 2 years is a mockery of the justice system.

[Puppet Guy]

Originally Posted by TheyCallMeBruce

Where's dexter when we need him?

I was thinking Charles Bronson.

[PegCityFlamesFan]

This does very little to encourage abuse victims, to go through all that and the piece of crap gets 2 years (yeah right). Hopefully someone in jail hands him some justice.

[Rerun]

Originally Posted by dino7c

he will be out in eight months

He'll be living in a halfway house and out on day parole in 2 months... guaranteed.

[bc-chris]

just pathetic

lock him up and throw away the key!

[dustyanddaflames]

I guess if there is one positive (and albeit small), there is talk about this type of situation in the news and on TV, and at times, awareness is just as important as justice.

[fredr123]

Originally Posted by kipperiggy

Could somebody explain why the judge said she had to weigh what James would have gotten the first time around if Fleury and Holt were known victims? Why does that matter? Why can't she throw him away for the max sentence for the crimes against these two new victims?

The theory, I think, goes like this.

Canada uses concurrent sentences for most offences. This means that if you're sentenced to 30 days in jail on each of four counts of possession of cocaine, for instance, you serve a total of 30 days (bearing in mind you will become eligible for parole much sooner, of course) and not 30 days x 4 counts = 120 days. The fact that you were convicted or plead guilty to four counts will result in a greater sentence than if you were only found guilty of one count will result in a greater sentence (say 20 days for one count, 30 days for all four together) but it's not the case that you simply add the sentence from each count together.

What the judge is saying is that had these two sexual assaults been known when James was originally sentenced, it would have bumped his sentence up a bit from what he actually did receive. James is, in a sense, getting some credit for the fact that he was previously convicted and served time for those earlier known offences. Proceeding in this fashion prevents an offender from being locked up almost indefinitely because his victims come forward one at a time over time rather than everyone coming forward all at once. In this way, the guy who is convicted of sexually assaulting four kids is going to get the same or similar sentence no matter when the victims come forward. To do so otherwise would mean that James would receive a greater sentence because two of his victims came forward much later than the first ones.

If another victim came forward to say that James assaulted him or her just last week, then this would likely be an entirely different story. Rather than getting some measure of credit for time already served, this new instance would probably be treated as a fresh offence and a host of new factors would be at play in sentencing.