Gordon Stuckless testifies he was also sexually abused
Posted May 28, 2014 1:48 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Convicted child molester Gordon Stuckless testified at his trial on Wednesday that he was sexually abused when he was a boy and those experiences affected how he treated his victims.
Stuckless, who was convicted of abusing boys when he was a Maple Leaf Gardens usher as early as 1968, pleaded guilty in April to 100 new charges related to the sexual abuse of 18 underage boys decades ago.
But he pleaded not guilty to another eight charges involving three of those victims. He now is on trial in Toronto on those charges, which include buggery, assault and gross indecency.
On Wednesday, Stuckless said his father’s friend raped him anally when he was 11 and that affected the way he treated his victims.
“Never, never ever buggery because of what I went through. I didn’t want to hurt anybody. I was just out to get pleasure for myself.”
During emotional testimony, he explained why he pleaded not guilty to the buggery charges saying he “didn’t do it” and that his Modus operandi was “befriending and manipulating” boys.
He said he would test the boys and if he didn’t get a negative response he would continue on from touching leading to oral sex. A negative response would be phrases like “I don’t like that,” the court heard.
His victims didn’t buy what he was saying.
“I think it’s an act. I think he should be in Hollywood,” former victim Michael McTague said.
“While my heart goes out to him for what happened to him, he made a choice,” Allan Donnan, former victim said.
Donnan said whatever happened in Stuckless’s childhood is no excuse for decades of abuse.
“He did this for his own personal pleasure. I think those were his own words. He did this for his own personal pleasure and gratification.”
The court also heard the second man to abuse Stuckless was a 60-year-old equipment manager at Maple Leaf Gardens. Stuckless, then 13, was selling ice cream at the Gardens and was offered a puck and a hockey stick.
“He offered me a puck and he touched me.”
From that point, Stuckless testified that he enjoyed it.
The Crown is expected to request a dangerous offender assessment for Stuckless, but his lawyer Ari Goldkind says it’s not warranted since his client has been living a “very law-abiding life” since his previous convictions and voluntarily undergoes chemical castration.
In 1997, Stuckless pleaded guilty to sex assaults on two dozen boys while he was an usher at Maple Leaf Gardens from 1968-88.
He was forced back in the spotlight last year when police announced fresh charges against him in alleged incidents dating back decades.
With files from The Canadian Press
