Canada

Photo: The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto is shown in a 1999 file photo. man at the centre of the Maple Leaf Gardens sex abuse scandal is facing new charges related to assaults that allegedly took place in the 1960s and 70s. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Kevin Frayer

A historic sex abuse scandal centred around Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens was brought into the spotlight once more on Friday as fresh charges were laid against a former usher at the famed arena.

Police said five new men have come forward with allegations they were abused by Gordon Stuckless between the ages of nine and 13 during the late 1960s and 70s.

But even as they detailed the latest in a case dating back decades, authorities said they expected to hear from more victims in the future.

"I believe there are more victims still out there," Det. Const. Roger Villaflor told reporters.

"There is no template or perfect time frame for someone to come forward with respect to offences like this ... with the passage of time these men have grown and are at a different stage in their lives and have come forward when they feel more comfortable."

The 63-year-old Stuckless was convicted in 1997 for sex assaults on 24 boys while he was an usher at Maple Leaf Gardens between 1969 and 1988.

He was sentenced to two years less a day, but that was later increased to five years. He was paroled in 2001 after serving two-thirds of his sentence.

In February, police announced that two adult men had come forward with allegations that Stuckless had sexually assaulted them as youths on several occasions in Toronto during the 60s and 70s. He was charged with six counts of indecent assault on a male and two other charges in relation to those allegations.

He was to appear in court Friday morning on those charges, but instead was arrested on 15 new charges, including nine counts of indecent assault of a male.