Graham James' victim Sheldon Kennedy speaks out about parole

Sheldon Kennedy has fought out of the shadow Graham James cast on his life, but he once again must deal with that darkness.

Kennedy was abused by the convicted pedophile who Thursday was granted full parole.

“What would be different his time than last time when he made all the same promises?” Kennedy argued.

James is serving a federal sentence for sexually assaulting players he coached in the 1970s and 1980s at the Swift Current Broncos.

The National Parole Board writes that having been granted day parole in January, James is showing improvement and is at low-risk to reoffend.

Kennedy finds that hard to believe.

“What’s going to be different this time than the last time he made all his promises and he had all the conditions on his full parole when we found him working with kids in Spain,” Kennedy said.

Given his experiences, Kennedy doesn’t think James can be trusted to keep his word.

“He’s clearly admitted that his obsession with young boys is still very real,” Kennedy argued. “Ten counselling sessions doesn’t cut it when you want and you need sustained change.”

Kennedy and his team mates Theo Fleury, Fleury’s cousin and Todd Holt were among James’ victims.

Through his foundation Kennedy is working to help abused children saying the focus should be on them.

James faces a number of conditions with this release including not to contact his victims nor can he be in a position of trust with minors.

The conditions remain in place until the end of the seven year sentence in 2019.