Columbia Falls Youth Hockey Coach Sentenced to 300 Years for Rape
A Butte-Silver Bow County jury in September convicted Jami Leslie James of six felony counts of sexual intercourse without consent for raping three young boys
By Maggie Dresser
A Columbia Falls youth hockey coach convicted of raping three boys under age 12 in Flathead County and Butte-Silver Bow County in 2020 and 2021 has been sentenced to 300 years at the Montana State Prison with eligibility for parole after 60 years.
A Butte-Silver Bow County jury in September found Jami Leslie James guilty of two felony counts of sexual intercourse without consent in Butte-Silver Bow County District Court and four additional felony counts of sexual intercourse without consent in Flathead County District Court. The cases were consolidated in Butte-Silver Bow County.
Butte-Silver Bow County District Court Judge Robert. J. Whelan imposed the sentence at a Feb. 25 hearing.
James was also designated a Level 3 sex offender, which is the highest tier on the classification system. The Montana Department of Justice defines the level as a high risk of sexual offense repeat, the individual is a threat to public safety, and an evaluator believes the offender is a sexually violent predator.
Montana Department of Justice Assistant Attorneys General Kelli Fivey and Stephanie Robles prosecuted the case while Kalispell-based attorneys Scott Hilderman and Lane Bennett represented the defendant.
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 assaulted 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 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 incident occurred two weeks after the camping trip, again at James’ home and again involving a sexual assault in which James 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 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 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.