POINT OF VIEW - ANDREA DEMEER STRATFORD BEACON HERALD

JAMES FORCES SPOTLIGHT ON CANCER OF CHILD ABUSE
If there is a blessing to be received from the life of Graham James it is this: As a garden-variety monster he committed a commonplace crime and received a typical sentence, but because of how and where he choose his prey, because of who his victims were and ultimately because of their courage in coming forward, James unwittingly gave spark to a rare maistream discussion in this country on the epidemic of sex assualt and child abuse and tohe related dysfunction of our criminal justice system.
Leave it to Canadians.
These are issues so depraved, so fathomless, we would dearly prefer not to think about them at all, thank your very much.It would take the sullying of our national sport to force us to sit up and take notice . So be it.
Last week James was committed for two years in prison for the long-term sexual abuse of teen hockey players under his charge.
Preceived as lenient, the sentence fueled outrage. The judge in the case has received death threats. The minister for public safety is calling on the Manitoba Justice Department to carefully its case for appeal.
That s all very understandable. Jame s crimes are among the worse we can imagine and two years is a woefully inadequate sentence.
Yet for the many survivors of sex abuse and assault in this country, and the police and prosecutors who investigate, it is pretty much another day at the office. Rape, incest and the violation of trust are generally followed up with a slap on the wrist.
Comparitively, a two year sentence for sex crimes can be thought severe.
Consider the following: The federal Justice Department tracked 2,854 cases of child sex exploitation in Canada (2002-03) while noting most of these crimes are never reported.
During the tracking period, conviction rates for child sex abuse, child prostitution and child pornography were 38.5%, among the lowest in adult court. Of those found guilty, more than half received probation or a conditional sentence.
Thanks to James, the nation is focused on the cancer that is child sex abuse like never before. It is an opportunity to take awareness and outrage and use them to force stiffer punishments for the guilty- and greater understanding of support of the innocent.