James attracted national attention two years later when NHL player Sheldon Kennedy came forward to accuse him of sexually abusing him over a period of years as his junior league coach. Kennedy also mentioned that another NHL player had endured the same abuse, but refused to name him. James pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three and a half years in prison. After completing his sentence, James obtained a federal pardon and left the country, settling in Spain and Mexico. However, in 2009, Theoren Fleury published a book alleging he too had been abused by James in the 1980s, which James again acknowledged as true. In March 2012, he was sentenced to another two years in prison.