Former skilled hockey participant Ryan Kesler is on the protection after being arrested and charged with two misdemeanor counts of fourth-degree legal sexual conduct associated to alleged inappropriate contact with a 16-year-old earlier this 12 months.
Via his authorized counsel, the ex-NHL star — who performed as a middle for 15 seasons with the Vancouver Canucks and Anaheim Geese — has denied the accusations stemming from an alleged incident on Jan. 1 in Michigan.
Each counts allege that Kesler, 41, engaged in sexual contact with a 16-year-old youngster “through force or coercion and/or (had) reason to know the victim was physically helpless,” in accordance with a legal grievance filed by police in Orchard Lake, Mich., and obtained by USA In the present day Sports activities.
Authorities obtained a warrant for Kesler’s arrest on Oct. 23, in accordance with on-line information. He was arraigned Monday in Bloomfield Hills District Court docket, the place he pleaded not responsible to the fees.
He was launched after posting $50,000 bond and was ordered to not go away the state with out permission from the court docket. He’s subsequent scheduled to seem for a possible trigger convention on Nov. 6, adopted by a preliminary examination listening to on Nov. 13.
Ryan Kesler of the Anaheim Geese is interviewed throughout media availability for the 2017 NHL Awards at Encore Las Vegas on June 20, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photograph by Bruce Bennett/Getty Pictures)
Kesler has since been suspended by the Michigan Novice Hockey Affiliation from his position as a Detroit-area youth hockey coach, in accordance with ESPN.
“Ryan emphatically denies the allegations and is completely innocent of the charges,” his lawyer Robert Morad mentioned in a press release on Tuesday. “As the legal process begins, we ask for respect for his privacy and for the integrity of the judicial system. We are confident, when all the facts and circumstances are presented, that he will be fully exonerated.”
Kesler, a local of suburban Detroit, performed within the NHL from 2003 to 2020. Throughout that point, he represented Staff USA twice within the Winter Olympics, successful silver on the 2010 Vancouver video games and ending fourth in 2014 in Sochi, Russia.
The married father of 4 additionally served as the quilt athlete and spokesman for the Wii-exclusive online game “NHL 2K11.”
