'I am not a victim': Theo Fleury reacts to Graham James day parole

The day that former junior hockey coach Graham James was granted day parole, one of the people he was convicted ofmolesting in the 1990s took to Facebook to speak out.

Former Calgary Flames hockey player Theo Fleury posted on Facebook, saying he doesn't consider himself a victim.

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"I lead a very happy and healthy productive life," he wrote in the post.

Fleury said he denied media requests, and chose to use social media to respond instead.

"On social media we can control the message which is to encourage people that first and foremost we are not victims that we are survivors and many of us have overcome the challenges of our abuse and that those that are still silent can overcome them too with our help," he said.

Fleury wrote that decisions, like the day parole, should be seen as an opportunity to change the dialogue around abuse.

"We can end the stigma created by the media by encouraging others to find their own voices and help to create empowerment and to shine a light on this dark secret," he wrote.

Child advocate 'not surprised' at release

The early release of James has spurred debate from child protection advocates as well.James was released seven months into a two-year sentence.

Monique St. Germain, general counsel for the Canadian Centre for Child Protection, spoke to CBC Radio's Blue Sky host Garth Materie about the matter on Tuesday.

St. Germain said she wasn't surprised that James was released.

"I know that day parole is one of the sort of integrations of an offender back into the community," she said.

St. Germainadded thatchange is needed, particularly the way that offenders who repeatedly abuse children are being sentenced.

"What we are seeing, in the lens of what we're looking at, is that the sentences often don't seem to reflect the nature and the types of abuse occurring," she said, adding that this is particularly the case when it comes to motivated and repeat offenders.

In Manitoba, the range for a serious sexual assault against a child is between 4 to6 years, according to St. Germain

"In our view that's not sufficient," she said.