Hockey Enemy # 1

Former hockey coach and agent, David Frost, who was said to be the intended target of a bizarre murder-for-hire scheme, has been arrested and charged with sexual exploitation and assault. I think many poeple saw this coming as ongoing investigations into Frost's background had authorities on alert for quite some time.

Frost was arrested and charged with exploitation and assault.The incidents are alleged to have occurred in two Ontario communities where Frost once worked in minor and junior hockey as a coach. An investigation has been under way for more than two years, after complaints were made to police.
The incidents are alleged to have occurred between 1995 and 2001 in the Deseronto and Napanee area, but police won't say if they are connected to a hockey team.

Police say there were seven victims: Four male and three female, between the ages of 14 and 16 at the time of the incidents.

For the rest of this report, follow this link.

This story sickens and repulses me to no end. As a father of a youngster playing hockey, I beleive no amount of precaution is too much for leagues taking measures to ensure this doesn't ever happen again. With this country's justice system, it's hardly likely. It should be pretty much a concrete fact that sexual predators cannot be rehabilitated. No evidence has ever been proven true to the contrary. Beleiving that medication for these people is a cure is the biggest falacy I know of.

I'm no psychologist when it comes to these matters, but it has always been my understanding that these predators were once abused themselves. It seems to cause some sort arrested development in their minds with regard to youthful desires. As they grow into the bodies of adults these longings do not move forward. As an adult they can easily manipulate certain vulnerable youth, and this nightmare turns into viscious cycle. Trying to understand and comprehend it, is one thing - dealing with it however, is an altogether different matter.

The bleeding hearts (usually lawyers and judges) will always argue that a predator's background and childhood had everything to do with how they turned out. They use this to bargain down sentences, as if it's done in anyone's best interest! There is no denying the fact their background plays part, but it doesn't help solve the issue.

As these crimes rob children of their youth and kill their innocence, I feel a punishment of life in prison is the only cure for society. In my eyes, there has been a murder committed. The body may still breathe, but the soul is damaged usually beyond repair. Preventing the deviants from reoffending in society is the only matter at hand. The only protection society can have, is the complete and terminal incarceration of the individuals committing these despicable acts. Until a more cut and dried approach is taken, society will continue to bare the brunt of the burden in this issue.

As long as these mental deviants are returned to society, youth sports leagues around the world must also be on guard to filter all applications for volunteers with extremely tough background checks.

The world has known these types - from Michael Jackson to Graham James - both of whom are still at large in the world. There will surely come a time when both reoffend.

Having been around hockey dressing rooms for years, I've seen how just the notion of such things can alter what should be a fun time.

In my third year of coaching, I drafted a young fellow who'd been involved in an incident of this nature two years prior. I wasn't privy to the private details the player and family endured. I was told that fortunately, it wasn't an extreme case of abuse. However minor, it did affect this individual. The perpetrator had unfortunately done worse with others. He was banned for life by the hockey association and eventually found guilty of his crimes. He served a total of five years punishment. Last time I saw him, he worked at a corner store in the neighborhood for a month until it was revealed publicly what he'd done. Where he went off to from there, no one really knows. Not too comforting is it?

The player in question took to arriving at games fully dressed from helmet to skates. He walked to and from his fathers car with skate guards on. After his father requested to be in the room before and after games, I offered him a trainers position so the other kids on the team wouldn't wonder why the usual no parent code was being broken for one player. In the year I coached, he barely spoke a word to anyone. It was one of the saddest things I ever witnessed. He was great at the game, but he just couldn't seem to get any fun out of it.
When my daughter was in her fourth year of hockey, an aquaintence of mine, who'd watched her play many times asked if he could come to a game. This man had dealt with some emotional and mental issues of his own for a time, manic depression being one of them. I was not altogether eager to have him come by for the 7 a.m. game. I never deduced that there were any issues revolving around children and abuse. To this day, there has never been anything on him of the sort. I have known him pretty well for years and he had been a trainer and coaching assitant for me also.

On the morning of this particular game, I had conveniently forgotten to pick him up. As he had known several parents on the team from his asociation with me, he wasn't an uncommon sight around the hallways and dressing rooms of the team. When I arrived at the arena that morning, there he was in the dressing room taking pictures of a few kids in different stages of putting their equipement. I flipped and lost it and hustled him out of there as quickly as possible. Later in the day, I paid him a visit and confescated his roll of film. In the end, there was nothing harmful to be found - two pictures of one girl tying her skates. I had gotten there just in time, possibly.

The whole scene caused the team to instill rules of dressing room conduct. The girls aged 8 and 9 were encouraged to come to arena with adequate underclothing. No fathers were allowed inside until only skates needed to be tied. Mothers and sisters became the only relatives allowed to assist in the dressing of the kids. Smart moves. I was completely humiliated and embarrased by the whole ordeal. The fact that nothing was found in his camera was irrelevant in my eyes. The team had acted properly. It was beyond me how someone with some coaching experience could be so blatantly stupid, and I told him so.

In the years since that day, I have heard a few rumblings about his views on children and it has made me feel uneasy. Again, there has never been anything solid on him.

Four times in that span, he has, without asking, used me as a reference to get back into coaching. I'm always glad I'm around to take those calls. I don't mince my feelings. Four times he was not given a call back.

For a link to a previous post on Mike Danton click here. Keep in mind it is somewhat tongue in cheek.