Rape charges filed against former youth hockey coach Jami Leslie James in Butte-Silver Bow and Flathead counties have been consolidated into one case that will be prosecuted in Butte.
James, 48, was recently transferred from the Flathead County jail to the Butte-Silver Bow Detention Center and on Wednesday, District Judge Robert Whelan in Butte set his trial date in the combined case for Dec. 2.
Prosecutors from the two counties say six alleged sexual assaults occurred between 2019 and early 2021 and involved three boys, all 8 or 9 years old at the time, who were participants in a private hockey program run by James.
James pleaded not guilty in April 2023 to two counts of sexual intercourse without consent in Butte-Silver Bow County, five days after he pleaded not guilty in Kalispell to four rape charges in Flathead County. Each of the six counts carries a maximum sentence of 100 years in prison and fine up to $50,000.
People are also readingâŠ
James was arrested in Flathead County on a Butte warrant in early February 2023 and told police he never sexually abused children and could not think of a motive behind the accusations. He has been jailed in Kalispell or Butte since then.
Scott Hildeman, Jamesâ attorney, asked that the cases be consolidated and prosecutor Ann Shea in Butte-Silver Bow County told The Montana Standard she was OK with that if the case was handled in Butte.
John Donvan, a deputy Flathead County attorney, said in a court motion that he reached out to alleged victims in the case, spoke with Shea and did not object to the consolidation.
Hildeman told The Standard last year that James was innocent.
The charges in Flathead County stem from alleged rapes at Jamesâ Columbia Falls home and during a camping trip at Hungry Horse Reservoir in 2020. Both of the underage victims told investigators that James pulled down their pants and stuck an object into their rectums, according to court documents.
Prosecutors in Butte-Silver Bow say one of those victims was also raped by James at a Butte hotel. A third boy saw a newspaper article and photo about Jamesâ arrest in early February and told his parents two days later, âI think JJ did that to me.â Authorities believe it occurred at a different hotel in Butte, leading to the second charge there.
One of the alleged victims is from Butte, one used to live in Butte but his family has since moved, and documents indicate the third boy is from Flathead County, prosecutors say.
According to the Daily Inter Lake in Kalispell, James said he moved to Montana in 2016 and launched the North American Hockey Academy in 2017. His program was located on U.S. 93 and boasted nearly 700 students within a few years, he told the Inter Lake in 2020.
He told the newspaper he is bi-racial and was identified in one story as the only black hockey coach in Montana. He told a detective after his arrest that he feels he is constantly attacked due to his race.
Mike Smith is a reporter at the Montana Standard with an emphasis on government and politics.
