Rape Trial Begins for Former Flathead Youth Hockey Coach
Jami Leslie James, 50, is accused of sexually assaulting three players who were under age 10 at the time of the alleged incidents. He is standing trial in Butte-Silver Bow County.
By Maggie Dresser
The trial of a 50-year-old Columbia Falls youth hockey coach accused of raping three young boys between 2019 and 2021 in Flathead County and Butte is now underway in Butte-Silverbow County District Court.
Jami Leslie James in March 2023 pleaded not guilty to four felony counts of sexual intercourse without consent in Flathead County District Court. Separately, he pleaded not guilty to two felony counts of sexual intercourse without consent in Butte-Silver Bow District Court in April 2023. The cases in May 2024 were consolidated to Butte-Silver Bow County where Judge Robert J. Whelan is presiding.
James faces six rape charges, four of which were originally charged in Flathead County where he was accused of sexually assaulting two 8-year-old players at a hockey camp in 2020. He faces two additional rape charges in Butte-Silver Bow County involving the alleged sexual assaults of two 8-year-old players at a Butte hotel during hockey camp in 2019 and 2020.
Montana Department of Justice Assistant Attorney General Kelli Fivey is prosecuting the case while Kalispell-based attorney Scott Hilderman is representing the defendant. The trial opened Sept. 8 with jury selection.
According to an affidavit filed by Deputy Flathead County Attorney John Donovan on March 1, 2023, James hosted youth hockey players, who were attending a camp, at his home in Columbia Falls where he allegedly used an object to assault the two boys in the summer of 2020.
During a forensic interview with authorities, one victim described staying overnight at James’ home, where the coach allegedly climbed into the player’s bed and assaulted the boy, causing him to scream, according to charging documents.
Another 8-year-old victim told authorities about a similar overnight episode at James’ home during a hockey camp in the summer of 2020. When the youth player woke up to use the bathroom, James confronted him and asked if the boy “wanted to be fast like the other players?” James physically carried the boy into a bedroom and raped him, causing the boy to cry, records state.
The same victim told officers about a second event that occurred while camping on a boat at Hungry Horse Reservoir during the summer of 2020 where a similar incident occurred, records state.
A third alleged incident occurred two weeks after the camping trip, again at James’ home and again involving a sexual assault in which James allegedly raped the player. The victim cried and asked for help at the time of the incident, records state, but James covered his mouth.
Less than a week after James pleaded not guilty to the four charges in Flathead County District Court, he entered not guilty pleas to two additional rape charges in Butte-Silver Bow District Court on April 5, 2023.
According to an affidavit filed in Butte-Silver Bow District Court, James allegedly raped an 8-year-old player and covered the victim’s mouth when he tried to scream at a Butte hotel during a hockey camp in 2019.
The victim told authorities during a forensic interview that a similar incident happened in the Flathead Valley during a different hockey camp in 2020, records state.
According to court documents, a second victim said he was staying in a Butte hotel in the fall of 2021 when James allegedly confronted him when he got up to get water, asking the young hockey player, who was under age 10, to go with him so he could take his temperature. James then assaulted the player, records state.