The man at the heart of the Maple Leaf Gardens sexual abuse scandal will now face close to a decade in prison after Ontario’s highest court found his original sentence was inadequate given the “staggering” magnitude of his crimes.
Gordon Stuckless was sentenced in 2016 to 6.5 years behind bars – six after credit for his time on house arrest – for sexually abusing 18 boys over three decades.
Stuckless, who used his job at the famed arena as well as his positions as an assistant teacher and volunteer coach to groom vulnerable boys, had pleaded guilty two years earlier to 100 charges. He was later found guilty of two more offences in connection with two of the boys.
Some of his victims, now in their 40s and 50s, were angered by the sentence imposed by Ontario Superior Court Justice Mara Greene, saying it was too lenient in light of the lasting trauma caused by Stuckless’s actions.
At the time, Greene said she considered the general range of penalties for that type of offence and took into account the outcome of Stuckless’s earlier conviction in a similar case.
In a split decision released Tuesday, the Court of Appeal for Ontario found the sentence delivered by Greene was “demonstrably unfit” and should be increased to 10 years, less six months for time served on house arrest.