Justice for Graham James or for the Victims of His Crimes?

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Today’s Blog Post
Justice for Graham James or for the Victims of His Crimes?

It was reported widely yesterday and today that Graham James, the Hockey Coach Pedophile that molested teenage boys on his hockey teams, received a punishment of Two Years in Jail. The Judge in Winnipeg Court handed down this verdict to the stunned Canadian public.

Articles that I have read today are showing signs of the public seething and dismay with the Two Year sentence he was given.

Usually Two Years means serving that time in a Provincial Jail; where everyone in there is Two Years less a day. Anything over Two Years would have him serving his sentence in a Federal Penitentiary.

In the Provincial System he will not receive any programming or counseling. In the Federal System he would possibly. And we know that with his high profile case and his name being as it is, he will be removed or separated from the regular bad guys inside. That will be for his protection.

I am guessing at this next part. If he serves time in the Manitoba Provincial Correctional system he will be in a very different crowd than that of Quebec and of Ontario. The prison population is entirely different in each area.

Manitoba correctional system faces huge issues with a large aboriginal population. And from what I have heard that is true of a number of at least two western provinces in Canada.

And trying not to be racists, white guys in an almost all aboriginal inmate population is not a good place to be.

How do I know? My Dad was an employee of one of the Western Provinces Provincial Correctional facilities. The stories that he brought home from his training and also from the actual scene of inside prison crimes… were terrible!

Simply put Graham James is not in for a good time inside a Manitoba Jail system. The guards will all do a great job to look after Mr. James and even protect him. His 23 ½ hours in the cell for two years will be good. His ½ hour each day (maybe) will be protected from others.

But think of it this way. When there is a string of bad weather days in your community and you tell people that you have “cabin fever”… that usually happens after a four day stretch of not going anywhere.

Try being in a small cell for 23 ½ hours a day… for two years. Do you think you will come out “normal”?

Nope. Neither do I. And Graham James is not going to receive an easy ride as he serves his next term of incarceration. Not at all!

But there are worse guys than Graham James living successfully in our communities now. They have served their sentences for their Pedophilic actions. They raped, assaulted, deeply wounded kids from babies to late teens. And they live out their lives successfully with support.

That support I have written about before. It is called COSA(Circles of Support and Accountability). And COSA works and works well. I have witnessed it up front.

But COSA can be made to not work if the attitude of the convicted man refuses help and pushes away from the COSA supporters. If he continues to manipulate he will go down again. I have seen it happen in our area just a month or so ago. The dude that messed up again and did not hold to his conditions is now back in prison again.

I do not know what Graham James is like. I do not know if he had a COSA around him. But if he did, even Graham James will start possibly living out a better and more productive life outside of prison.

BUT what about the Victims of Crime? What about the kids that are now adults that will never find freedom from the horrific dreams and nightmares and daytime shuddering thoughts that never let them be free????? What about them?????

You see our justice system does nothing for the Victims of Crime. The Crown Prosecutor and the Judge can do nothing to help them before, during or after the trial. The revealing of evidence by having the story of the nightmares told in open court does not make the Victim “feel better”. The sentence of 2 years… to 1000 years will not make the Victim of the Crime feel better. Nothing does that.

Support and understanding will help the Victim. Counseling that they cannot afford should be provided free. Support financially would be a great help when they lose their jobs because of not being able to work… when the nightmares are just too great. A fund set up to support the Victim would go a long way to help their families.

Perhaps that support fund could be set up to be the same as the amount that the Government will spend on the Convicted Pedophile. And if they need to help a dozen or more Victims per Pedophile – so be it. Then and only then, would the Politicians, that set the rules, would truly understand how much of an impact it has been on our society.

Graham James did not just harm the boys that he worked with on the hockey teams he coached. He hurt us all.

Now what will we do about it?

I am deeply moved by the stories and accounts of the three adult men that now stand shaken by the results of the court’s decision. But they will get help.

I am frightened right now by the fact that more kids last night were raped, sexually assaulted by a daddy, an uncle, a grandpa, a brother, a minister or a hockey coach (not forgetting the mother's, aunts, babysitters that can be abusers as well…Personally I have heard of four such cases). And worse yet by someone that should know better as a care giver, had no idea a man(or woman) like that would ever do such a horrible thing.

That little kid is now crying inside… and no one can hear him of her. The teachers will not see it at their school… because it won’t come out until their molester gets his two years in jail later on… much later… MUCH LATER.

I am caught in the middle and know way too much. God help me today. But more than anything else – God help that little boy that is crying now… and that little girl that can’t say anything at all.

God help us all.

And as sick as it sounds, “Thank You GRAHAM JAMES for making us more aware of what your kind does to our kids.” Thanks buddy.

~ Murray Lincoln ~
http://www.murraylincoln.com/ 

Resource:
http://news.sympatico.ctv.ca/home/graham_james_sentenced_to_2_years_for_sex_assaults/7d3457a7