“No longer.”
When Todd Holt delivered those words at a press conference March 2012 in Cochrane, he made it clear he was no longer a victim of hockey coach Graham James and was ensuring James would not be able to offend again.
True to his word, Holt was in a Saskatchewan courtroom three years later supporting a fourth victim of the former Western Hockey League coach, who was already serving time for sexually abusing Holt and Theoren Fleury when coached by him in the late-1980s/early-1990s. James had previously served a separate 2.5-year sentence handed down in 1997 for similar offences against Sheldon Kennedy.
The unnamed victim came forward with complaints to Swift Current RCMP in 2013. The former Swift Current Broncos and Moose Jaw Warriors head coach pleaded guilty to the latest charges June 19 and faces another two years in jail. Holt and Kennedy were in the Swift Current courtroom for the proceedings.
“Another victim has come out and put Graham away for another little length of time,” Holt says. “It kind of makes you feel good about what you’re doing. It gives you confirmation that you’re doing the right thing.”
For Holt, it’s been a campaign of doing the right thing while reconciling his experience with James. After grappling with it for 20 years, and no longer content being a victim, Holt finally slayed the anguish and pain James had imposed on him by charging the convicted sex offender and going public with his story upon James’s 2012 conviction. Holt’s now an advocate for sexual-assault victims reclaiming their lives, and was instrumental in this latest James victim coming to terms with his past after “coming out” to press charges.
“It’s important we all realize what the path is here. From the time Sheldon came out (in 1996), to the time myself and Theoren came out (2010); it’s indicative of the support that’s here now,” Holt reassures. “After we came out, it’s one of those positive, ripple effects. Other people who are coming out know they are not alone. When they reach out, ultimately, we are there.”
Like Kennedy, Holt and Fleury before him, James’s latest victim to come forward now has to move on to the next chapter – one without the doubts, pain and grief he’s been coping with for 25 years. Now 43, he was 18 at the time of the assaults.
“Everything takes time. I think the healing process is just beginning. He has a long way to go. This is one of the toughest parts. Closing that chapter,” Holt explains. “And now it’s time for him to grab the bull by the horns, as they say, and then start making those changes in his life that will ultimately get him to where we are today.”
Today, Todd Holt is a business development representative in the Alberta energy sector and a hockey dad. Theoren Fleury is a Calgary businessman, author and NHL Hall of Fame candidate. Sheldon Kennedy runs the Calgary-based child advocacy centre in his name and is a Member of the Order of Canada.
Together, they aim to make a victim “no longer” of the latest man to take down Graham James’s demons.
