A Toronto man has filed a $4 million lawsuit against the Toronto Maple Leafs' parent company alleging he was repeatedly sexually abused by former Gardens usher John Paul Roby.
Five more alleged victims will also file statements of claim against Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment soon, says lawyer Harvin Pitch. Pitch represents all six men in this new round of sex abuse claims surfacing in the decade-old scandal.
In the latest claim, filed Friday, the man alleges the abuse began when he was nine years old and continued until he was 14.
The sexual assaults took place at Maple Leaf Gardens and at Roby's home, the lawsuit states.
The victim, now 43, grew up in Cabbagetown near the Gardens, the Toronto Star reports. The man claims he was lured into the arena by handyman Gordon Stuckless, equipment manager George Hanna and Roby.
Roby was convicted in 1999 of multiple counts of assault involving the sexual abuse of young boys at the Gardens. He was declared a dangerous offender in 2000 and died of a heart attack in prison the following year.
Stuckless pleaded guilty in 1997 to 24 counts of sexual and indecent assault. He was sentenced to five years in prison, and was paroled in February 2001 after serving two-thirds of his sentence.
Hanna died in 1984.
As a result of Roby's attacks, the victim has suffered loss of self-esteem, sexual trauma and a lifelong struggle with depression, according to the court documents.
None of the allegations have been proven in court.
The lawsuit states the victim didn't come forward earlier because he feared embarrassment and punishment from his parents and estrangement from his friends and siblings.
The other five men who will soon be filing their lawsuits will name Stuckless, Roby and Hanna as their abusers, Pitch told the Star.
"Unbelievable horrors that they've kept inside them for over 35 years," Pitch told CTV's Chris Eby.
"Money is not the issue, it's closure that's the issue."
Two other men launched lawsuits against MLSE in March alleging sexual abuse at the hands of Stuckless during the 1970s when they were children.
The new round of lawsuits against the Gardens comes 10 years after victim Martin Kruze blew the whistle on the pedophile ring at the arena.
Kruze testified at Stuckless' trial that he was among the dozens of young hockey fans lured into the Gardens with free tickets and hockey memorabilia, only to be sexually abused.
Dejected over the original jail sentence of two years in jail handed to Stuckless, Kruze committed suicide a few days later.
With a report from CTV's Chris Eby
