Flathead Valley youth hockey coach pleads not guilty to child rape charges in Butte

A youth hockey coach accused of raping two boys at Butte hotels pleaded not guilty to two counts of sexual intercourse without consent Wednesday, five days after he pleaded not guilty in Kalispell to four rape charges in Flathead County.

Jami Leslie James, 47, entered the two not-guilty pleas Wednesday from District Court in Butte while his attorney, Scott Hildeman of Kalispell, appeared via Zoom. Judge Robert Whelan accepted the pleas and set the next hearing on the Butte charges for May 17.

Prosecutors from both counties say the six alleged sexual assaults occurred between 2019 and early 2021 and involved three victims, all 8- or 9-years-old at the time, who were participants in a private hockey program run by James.

James was arrested in Flathead County on a Butte warrant in early February and told police he never sexually abused children and could not think of a motive behind the accusations.

He was transferred to the Butte jail but after that, Flathead County prosecutors filed four rape charges against James and he was returned to Kalispell last week for his arraignment there. He was then sent back to Butte for Wednesday's arraignment.

Bond was initially set at $500,000 in Butte-Silver Bow but was increased to $750,000 after the Flathead charges were filed. Each of the six counts carries a maximum sentence of 100 years in prison and fine up to $50,000.

Hildeman told The Montana Standard recently that James was innocent. He told Whelan on Wednesday that he would file a motion to have James returned to Flathead County "where he resides and his counsel resides so we can have better access to him."

Ann Shea, the lead prosecutor in the Butte case, said she was OK with that but if James was released on bond in the Flathead County case she wants him returned to Butte. Whelan agreed to that by saying bond conditions here will remain.

The charges in Flathead County stem from alleged rapes at James' 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 James' arrest in early February and told his parents two days later, "I think JJ did that to me." 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.