CBC’s The National Goes After Disgraced Hockey Coach

Later tonight, CBC’s nightly news program, The National, will air the results of an investigation on what happened to disgraced hockey coach Graham James. He was pardoned from jail four years ago and disappeared. CBC and the Toronto Globe and Mail did a joint investigation and James was found living outside Canada. James was accused of molesting two of his young players including former Boston Bruin Sheldon Kennedy.

The story spread shockwaves throughout the hockey community including Canada where junior hockey is very prevalent in the country similar in numbers to Little League baseball in the US. Here’s a release from CBC News.

THE NATIONAL TRACKS DOWN DISGRACED

FORMER HOCKEY COACH GRAHAM JAMES IN A CBC NEWS/GLOBE AND MAIL INVESTIGATION

Tonight on The National, the fifth estate’s investigative reporter, Bob McKeown has the latest story on the man at the centre of the pardon scandal—former hockey coach Graham James. Canadians have not seen or heard of James for years, but McKeown found James outside of the country, and tonight’s report confronts him on the ongoing controversy brewing back in Canada. Find out how James responds.

McKeown has covered Graham James—one of Canada’s most notorious sex offenders—for years. This CBC News/Globe and Mail investigation comes on the heels of the federal government’s proposed legislation to eliminate pardons for convicted pedophiles and repeat criminal offenders.

James has largely kept out of the public eye since his pardon by the National Parole Board in 2007. In 1997 he pleaded guilty to sexual assault after two of his former teenaged players, including ex-NHL player Sheldon Kennedy, came forward with stories of abuse by James. More allegations against James are now under investigation by law enforcement agencies in Canada.

THE NATIONAL airs on CBC Television at 10 p.m. (10:30 NT), and on CBC News Network at 9 and 11 p.m. ET/PT and 10 p.m. ET. THE NATIONAL also streams live, beginning at 10 p.m. ET, at cbc.ca/thenational.

This is a story that outraged Canadians when it surfaced over a decade ago.