The Crown had been seeking a six-year prison term. The defence had asked for a conditional sentence with no jail time.
“All of them combined keep me strong henrik sedin jerseys,” he said. “I get up every morning, my feet hit the floor running, looking for the next opportunity to help the next person get to where I am, where Sheldon is, where Todd is. It’s kind of a call to all the victors of child sexual abuse: We’ve been through the war and we’ve come out of it empowered, we’re advocates and we talk about what happened to us very openly.
Fleury says he’d steeled himself for the eventuality of such a verdict, long ago insulating himself from any emotional reaction to whatever might happen.
“The hardest thing for reporters, for people, to understand is that I have no emotion attached to this. I am in recovery. I am a victor over what happened to me.
“The next part of the process, for me, is to make the next federal election all about: What are we going to do about sexual abuse?
“The fact that he wore a ski mask in the courtroom? That tells me, tells the world, that ‘I’m still doing this stuff.’ If not, why not show your face?
“That’s why I got myself in a place of strength and peace and happiness before I went to Winnipeg to start this whole process. At the end of the day, the whole exercise was about exposing the system.
James pleaded guilty in December to sexually assaulting Fleury and Holt during the 1980s and early ‘90s. Charges against the longtime junior coach involving a third player ice hockey jerseys, Greg Gilhooly, were stayed. After being convicted 1997 of molesting Kennedy, James served 18 months of a 3 1/2-year sentence.
“This is not about me anymore,” the former Calgary Flames star calmly repeated an hour after disgraced hockey coach Graham James was sentenced Tuesday to two years in prison for sexually assaulting Fleury and cousin Todd Holt during their junior hockey days.
The swelling indignation of a nation, says Theoren Fleury, gives him a sense of hope, something the justice system failed to.
In passing sentence. Manitoba provincial court Judge Catherine Carlson said no sentence imposed could give back to Holt and Fleury what was taken by James.
Fleury — who battled depression and dependency and contemplated suicide after being molested by James discount nhl hockey jerseys, an authority figure Sidney Crosby jersey, during his junior hockey days — followed the sentencing in a Winnipeg courtroom via Twitter on Tuesday morning.
“There was a pardon given. Bail given. They allowed letters from adolescent kids from South America. C’mon … like, seriously? Does the legal system think we’re that stupid? They must.
“I predicted this right from the start,” Fleury said. “We knew what we were up against before the trial even started.
Fleury thanked supporters for their emails of encouragement he’s received as the wait for a ruling on this case ground on.
“All we’re asking for is some type of action now, some type of leadership. As advocates we can jump up and down and scream but unless people listen, and people act, it does no good. What you have to do is get into the social consciousness of Canada.
“There is no more shame, no more guilt, attached to our lives anymore — and that’s really the freedom of this whole thing.’’
A quick, widespread outburst of disbelief and anger followed the ruling. To many, a two-year term wasn’t nearly enough. Outside the courtroom, Holt called the sentence “a national travesty.”
“And I think the intense reaction to this ruling shows that that is happening.’’
The important thing, he stressed, is not so much the decision handed down in a Winnipeg courtroom on Tuesday morning, but what happens now.
He took the sure-to-be-controversial verdict in stride, even as a growing, widespread sense of anger and disbelief began to build.
“I gotta tell you, man, I never, ever, attached any emotion to anything that was going on in the court system. I’ve been too busy responding to the 100 emails a week I get from victims. Through this whole thing, I got an education in the legal system, so when people send emails about going through the process nhl hockey jerseys, so I can let them know exactly what’s going to happen to them.’’
“I think Canada’s reaction to the sentence is a very positive step. The country is outraged. If you read what’s on Twitter right now, we’re starting to get the kind of reaction we need in order to make change.’’
“This was never about personal revenge. What does revenge do? Nothing.
“This is about doing our utmost to eliminate the biggest epidemic we have on the planet. You have kids. I have kids. What’s important is that not one more kid has to go through what I did. What Sheldon (Kennedy) did. What Todd (Holt) did. That’s the reason for this entire exercise.
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