Most Americans do not pay close attention to legal matters in Canada, even if they involve sports figures. Fewer still follow the results of events that happened decades ago, even as they are thrust into the national spotlight. The Sandusky and Fine scandals, for instance, flashed upon our national consciousness briefly, but are no longer the top stories.
So it is little wonder that the case of Graham Jones has remained largely under the radar in the US. Graham Jones was a well-respected junior hockey coach in Canada, personally selecting young men to receive additional coaching and opportunities which ultimately could land them in the NHL. He was also a serial child molester who repeatedly targeted boys and then threatened those future hockey plans if they did not succumb to his pedophile behaviors.
Yesterday Graham Jones pleaded guilty to child molestation charges based on events that happened in the 1980's. It took a professional hockey star, Theo Fleury, to write a memoir long after Jones could do him any harm, to draw attention to the power that these coaches have over young, immature and impressionable minds.
Too many boys. Too often. Mostly unnoticed. How do we stop it?
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