Lawsuit against Graham James tossed after judge finds evidence 'too unreliable'

 This article may affect those who have experienced​ ​​​sexual violence or know someone affected by it. 

A Manitoba judge has dismissed a $6-million lawsuit against disgraced hockey coach Graham James and the St. James-Assiniboia School Division after she found the evidence presented by the plaintiff had inconsistencies, contradictions and was "too unreliable" to prove the convicted sexual offender abused a 10-year-old student in 1983.

"I am satisfied on the evidence adduced by the defendant that there is no genuine issue requiring a trial as to whether James sexually assaulted [the boy]," Court of King's Bench Judge Sarah Inness wrote in her decision.

The lawsuit, filed in November 2023, claimed James placed his hand on the boy's tights, making contact with his genitals, while James was his substitute teacher at the Winnipeg school division.

The statement of claim also alleged James assaulted the student at a relative's home the same year, forcing sexual acts on him and encouraging the boy's sister, who was a girl at the time, to sexually touch him.

Inness said at issue in the lawsuit is whether James was the perpetrator of the alleged sexual assaults.

"[The man's] beliefs that James is the person responsible, even if sincere, are not evidence upon which a finding of liability can reliably rest," the judge's decision said.

The judge said care was taken to assess the claims of the plaintiff, given James is "a notorious child sex offender."

He spent several years in prison for sexually assaulting multiple young players he coached in the 1980s and 1990s.

But the evidence presented by the plaintiff at the lawsuit raised concerns over contradictions and inconsistencies, including the timeline of the events, the judge's decision said.

The man initially claimed in the lawsuit and criminal complaint that the assault happened in May and the summer of 1983.

But following a Winnipeg Police Service investigation that found the man was not a student at the school until later that year, he filed an amended lawsuit claiming the sexual abuse had instead started in September and the fall of 1983.

"I recognize that a mistake as to the time frame of historical sexual abuse allegations alone may be explained by [the man's] age at the time and the number of years that have passed since then," the judge wrote in her decision.

But there were other concerns.

The judge pointed to the physical description the man gave police of the substitute teacher, which matched two photographs of James that were in news articles about the coach's sexual offending. The plaintiff admitted he came across those while doing research for his lawsuit.

"I find the reason he conducted research prior to making a criminal complaint was to assist himself in identifying his abuser. Either he did not know or he was unsure it was James," the decision said.

'Unaware of the identity,' says judge

Through interviews with the man's relatives, police found he never stayed overnight at the house where he said James assaulted him, and he had only been there for a visit over Christmas, where he left shortly after arriving, the decision said.

In the statement of claim, the man also said he saw James talking with another person the morning after the sexual abuse.

At cross-examination, the man identified the person as his uncle. When asked why he hadn't before, the plaintiff said he didn't want to unnecessarily involve his family.

The judge said this was problematic.

"His failure to adduce such evidence, knowing that the defendants were challenging the veracity of those claims, adds doubts to the accuracy of his account," the decision said.

"The fact that he was researching substitute teachers who were convicted, and his reluctance to involve his family as witnesses, suggests he was unaware of the identity of the person."

Records provided by the school division during the litigation show James had no days logged with them between September 1983 and June 1984. The judge said that while that evidence doesn't prove the former coach didn't work for the division after May 1983, it is reasonable to infer it.

James denied sexually assaulting the boy and said he was hired full-time as an assistant coach for the Winnipeg Warriors in or around May 1983. The judge said that if he had worked at the division after, there would have been some record or documentation.