Probation officer and disclosure
VANCOUVER – A British Columbia judge has awarded more than half a million dollars to a former hockey player who was sexually assaulted by his coach, a decision an ex-NHL star who was abused himself says is most meaningful if it helps the victim heal.
B.C. Supreme Court Judge Dev Dley awarded the victim $605,000 in damages after ruling the 35-year-old B.C. man’s playing career suffered because he was sexually molested twice by his junior hockey coach when he was 13.
The man, who is not identified in the judgment, sued the B.C. government to get compensation for the possible income he might have earned through multiple hockey contracts over several years.
The province admitted liability in the case, after a previous trial found a probation officer failed to tell the minor hockey association where the man first played that convicted sex offender Richard Hall was volunteering in the organization.
In early March, a Victoria court heard expert testimony that the abuse was a critical factor in the development of dysfunctional moods and excessive drinking as the man grew older, and that those problems limited what might have been a promising hockey career.
The judge said without the disorders there is a real possibility the man would have had a better chance to secure an NHL contract. Dley noted in his written judgment posted online on Wednesday that the victim was aToronto Maple Leafs prospect but never made the team.
Former Calgary Flames forward Theo Fleury(notes), whose 2009 autobiography exposed his own story of sexual abuse as a teen, said the most significant part of the ruling was the portion of costs awarded for rehabilitation.
The man was awarded nearly $15,000 for vocational rehabilitation and psychotherapy, in addition to $372,000 for the loss of his unrealized first hockey contract and other damages.
“At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how much time the perpetrator serves, it doesn’t matter how much the government pays,” Fleury, co-author of Playing With Fire, said in an interview.
“In the end, you want the individual to get the therapy that they need so that they can live a happy, productive life and at peace. At the end of the day, there isn’t a certain amount of money that’s going to make the pain go away.”
Fleury is now a vocal opponent of sex crimes he says permeates not just hockey, but all parts of society. He’s still waiting for prominent former coach Graham James— who served almost two years in jail in the late 1990s but later got a federal pardon — to go to trial on nine new sex charges involving himself and two other boys.
Fleury was encouraged by the recent judgment, and said he hopes it pushes governments to enact stiffer laws and forces people in authority, like politicians and police officers, to “pay more attention.”
But the outcome didn’t sway him to advise all victims to go to the courts.
“It’s really up to each individual, where they are in their life,” he said.
“If you’re in the beginning of your recovery process it’s probably not a good idea to throw that on top of what your’e already dealing with.”
According to the judgment, the victim was taken under the wing of his abuser starting at age 10, when they went fishing and to the movies together.
“The plaintiff looked upon Mr. Hall as a father figure and big brother,” the judgement said of the elder, who was a goalie coach.
When the boy was 13, Hall convinced him his niece wanted to engage in sex acts as long as the boy was blindfolded.
The boy complied but lifted his blindfold to realize the person was Hall.
“The plaintiff was horrified as to what had occurred and terminated his relationship with his assailant. The plaintiff was ashamed and embarrassed. He told no one.”
Hall’s actions were made public a year later, and the boy told his parents what happened. He got a medical exam but no counselling. The judgment describes the following years of his life, in which he progressed in hockey playing at various levels, as ones in which he increasingly suffered from personality, depressive and alcohol abuse disorders.
