WINNIPEG, Manitoba, May 12 (UPI) -- A former Canadian junior hockey coach who is a pardoned sex offender accused of additional crimes is now living in Mexico, a media investigation learned.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported Wednesday its joint investigation with the Globe and Mail found ex-coach and convicted sex offender Graham James living in an apartment in a gated compound in Guadalajara, Mexico.
James declined to answer questions about his 2007 pardon and allegations by former NHL players Theoren Fleury and Sheldon Kennedy that they had been sexually abused by the coach as teens while playing for his team. Fleury's accusations in a book published in October 2009, along with allegations by three other unnamed former junior players, are being investigated by Winnipeg police, the CBC said.
James coached the Swift Current Broncos in the 1980s and '90s, winning the national junior championship in 1989 when he was named Man of the Year by The Hockey News.
James pleaded guilty in 1997 to sexual assaulting two young men hundreds of times. Given a 3 1/2-year prison sentence, he was paroled in 2001 and banned for life by the Canadian Hockey Association.
After turning up in Spain at one point, his whereabouts had been a mystery until he was found in Mexico.
News of his 2007 pardon became known last month. Prime Minister Stephen Harper subsequently pushed for changes in the pardon system. Proposed changes were unveiled Tuesday.
