How did David Frost ever become an NHL Agent ?

David Frost, the NHL agent whose career has come under scrutiny after one of his players, Mike Danton, was arrested in a murder-for-hire plot in the U.S., was investigated by police in 2001 after a 13-year-old boy complained of sexual assault and threats during a lakeside vacation attended by a few NHL players, the Citizen has learned. That and this report from The Ottawa Citizen's Gary Dimmock and Greg McArthur

Mr. Frost has been the target of intense criticism in recent weeks as his relationship with his former players has been revealed. He has been vilified as a Svengali-like presence in the lives of five young players from Brampton, Ont., a relationship that has troubled parents, coaches and hockey officials at many levels of the game.

Two of those players, Mr. Danton, who changed his name from Mike Jefferson in 2002, and Sheldon Keefe are NHL players -- Mr. Danton with the St. Louis Blues and Mr. Keefe with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Both players are estranged from their parents.

In 1996-1997, as coach of the Quinte Hawks, a junior team based in Deseronto, Mr. Frost lived with three of the boys, including Mr. Keefe, in a two-room hotel suite that became known as a place where the players and some local girls would have sex. According to hotel staff, he was abusive and bullying toward his players (See Life in Room 22 in the Saturday Observer, B1).

Coaches have referred to Mr. Frost's control over his players as a spell; some have called it cult-like. "I felt he controlled his boys -- no doubt about that," said Hockey Hall of Fame member and Ottawa 67's coach, Brian Kilrea. "And as a coach, well, I found him very difficult to deal with."

He has also been accused of coaching from the stands with hand signals and isolating his special group of five from other players and their parents. In October, when Mr. Frost criticized Tampa Bay coach John Tortorella for not calling Mr. Keefe up from the minors, Mr. Tortorella responded by calling Mr. Frost "an idiot." Tampa Bay GM Jay Feaster added the best thing for Mr. Keefe's career "is for David Frost to shut up."

After Mr. Danton was arrested with his girlfriend on April 16 for conspiring with his girlfriend to hire a hitman to kill an unnamed male acquaintance, Mr. Frost's was named in several U.S. reports as the intended target, a fact Mr. Frost denies.

The case against Mr. Danton is anchored in telephone conversations between the accused conspirators, the hitman and the intended target, including one recorded conversation in which a desperate Mr. Danton says: "I'm pretty much begging" and "I wouldn't resort to this if it wasn't a matter of life and death." After police learned of the murder-for-hire scheme, the target agreed to record a conversation with the player, in which he asked why he wanted him killed. The player broke down and sobbed, saying he felt "backed into a corner and also felt that the acquaintance was going to leave him. Danton did not want to allow the acquaintance to leave him, therefore decided to have him murdered," according to an FBI affidavit filed in court.

Until now, the 2001 police investigation into the sexual assault allegations at the lake in Eastern Ontario in June 2000 has never been made public. No charges were laid, but the boy, almost three years later, stands by his story. Mr. Frost denies the allegations, insisting it was the boy's idea, as do others present who gave statements to police. But none of the witness statements indicate that any of the adults present stopped it.

On June 20, 2001, a psychologist contacted the Children's Aid Society after he was shown a photograph of the 13-year-old boy, half-naked and bound to a bed, according to a police file.

The complaint to the child-protection agency sparked a year-long Ontario Provincial Police investigation, central to which was the boy's assertion he felt he was pressured to take part in the alleged "initiation."

"They taped me naked and everyone was there. They took pictures of me. It was embarrassing and humiliating. It hurt me inside ... It ruined my confidence," the boy, a promising hockey player who still hopes for an NHL career and who has not been coached or advised by Mr. Frost, told the Citizen.

The boy also complained that Mr. Frost pointed a pellet gun at him and demanded that he strip naked and stand on a table.

But according to Mr. Frost, now 36, and videotaped statements by at least five witnesses, the boy's version of events is completely false.

"The allegation regarding being tied to the bed post is portrayed incorrectly by (the boy), he in fact was a willing participant, joking ... bragging that he could 'get out no problem', 'Do it.' Everyone was laughing and joking at this time and there was obviously no aggression, malice or abusive behaviour involved," according to a witness statement.

"This witness asked (the boy) at least three times if he was OK, or if it was too tight and he replied 'Don't worry, I'll get out' and he did free himself. He instigated this himself and at the time he was wearing boxer shorts. At no time was he forced to do anything against his will nor was he under any stress," according to a witness statement.

All the statements maintain it was the boy who had the pellet gun, not Mr. Frost, and that he was shooting birds. They describe the boy as "wild and obnoxious."

Another witness explained it away as a joke, recalling that someone said, "be quiet or I'll tie you up." According to this witness statement, the boy replied: "Go ahead, I'll get out."

"This witness watched the incident and saw (the boy) break out of the tape and witnessed him laughing and having fun."

Another witness said the boy was a "willing participant" and was "laughing and asking for it to be done repeatedly."

The boy, who is now 17, doesn't back down from his story.

"I told you exactly what happened. What I told you is the truth. I wish someone could just do something about it. Why would someone want this stuff to happen to them? I was using the pellet gun. A pellet gun is for fun, but I wasn't pointing it at myself. (Mr. Frost) was using it as a weapon to make me do things," he claimed.

The boy also complained that one day by the lake, Mr. Frost drew a pellet gun again, this time ordering the boy up a tree, demanding that he start climbing. The boy said when he refused, Mr. Frost threatened him with the pellet gun. The boy said he was also offered money. He climbed up and ended up falling.

"I was scared he was going to shoot me," the boy said.

But witnesses said the boy volunteered with great enthusiasm when Mr. Frost offered anyone $50 to climb the tree and retrieve a snagged fishing lure.

"(The boy) tried to get the lure twice, he was joking about winning the money and laughing. At no time was he forced to do anything he did and there was no pellet gun or any gun present at this time," one witness said.

The boy also told the Citizen that he got so drunk one night that he vomited. But witness statements say he only had one drink and moments later, the boy "started to act foolish and was jumping on a table and dancing under his own power without any duress."

Mr. Frost, who was the subject of the investigation, directs all questions about the case to high profile Ottawa lawyer Michael Edelson, who represented the agent during the 2001 investigation.

"I can tell you that in reference to the statements that were taken from my clients in 2002, that I can count on the fingers of one hand, in 28 years of practising criminal law, that I have had clients who had been properly advised by me who were insistent on coming forward and making statements to the police, providing a full account of the events surrounding the allegations the police were making so that they would have their explanation prior to determining whether charges would be laid," Mr. Edelson says.

"In this case, all of the individuals who were under investigation, came forward, made full videotaped statements in which they answered every question that was posed to them by the police. In the end, the police took the file to the senior Crown attorney in Brockville (Curt Flanagan) and after a lengthy review, he determined no charges would be laid."

Neither Sgt. Terry Blace, of the OPP headquarters in Orillia, nor the Crown attorney involved would comment on the case.

When asked why a 13-year-old boy would make up such a story, Mr. Edelson said yesterday that witnesses had told him that the boy was "out of control" and upset with life at home and trouble at school. Other witness statements have reported that the boy's father had a vendetta against Mr. Frost.

The photograph that sparked the investigation was found by a family friend who took it to the parents who, in turn, showed it to the psychologist. It was seized by police as evidence. The Citizen has reviewed two other photographs, one showing guests at the kitchen table drinking Budweiser and Blue beer.

The guests at the cottage took many photographs of one another -- including a series of photographs of the boy, shown with his forearms bound by hockey tape to the step-ladder of a bunk bed.

The boy's parents say they did not go to authorities until the photograph surfaced, saying that until then they had no "proof" to support his story.

Mr. Frost was not charged with any crime and does not have a criminal record. In 1997, he pleaded guilty to assaulting a player he was coaching, but won a conditional discharge in open court. That and this report from The Ottawa Citizen's Gary Dimmock and Greg McArthur