The man at the heart of the Maple Leaf Gardens sex abuse scandal has died. According to his lawyer, Gordon Stuckless was rushed to hospital in Hamilton, Ontario after suffering from a brain hemorrhage on Tuesday and died last night.
"Mr. Stuckless left a trail of devastation in his wake. Of that there can be no doubt. I saw that firsthand in my representation of him over the last decade," said lawyer Ari Goldkind.
"Upon his release from jail, he made a vow to never repeat the monstrous acts he committed that ruined so many innocent young lives."
Stuckless was found guilty in 1997 for sex assaults on 24 boys while he worked as an equipment manager at Maple Leaf Gardens between 1969 and 1988. He was sentenced to two years less a day in that case, but that was increased to six years on appeal, less a year for time served. He was released in 2001. In 2016, Stuckless was sentenced to six and a half years behind bars — six after credit for his time on house arrest — for more than 100 offences related to the sexual abuse of 18 boys over three decades.
Court heard that Stuckless, who was a volunteer hockey coach and teaching assistant on top of working at the famed Toronto arena, befriended boys and lured them with gifts and activities, sometimes even getting to know their families.
He was released to a halfway house on day parole in December.
