Former NHLer Ryan Kesler arrested and charged with some very serious crimes

UPDATE: To be clear, Kesler has not been arrested. In my ignorance of the American Justice System, I mistakenly assumed that an individual had to first be arrested in order to be charged. I now understand that that's the not the case. Kesler has been charged and arraigned on these charges.

Read below for our earlier report on this developing story.

This just in, according to court records uncovered by Katie Strang of The Athletic, former NHLer Ryan Kesler has been charged with two misdemeanor counts of criminal sexual conduct in the fourth degree.

The 41 year old Kesler was arraigned Monday in a Bloomfield Hills, Mich., courtroom, where he pleaded not guilty to the charges, which were filed against him on Oct. 23 over events on Jan. 1, according to court records.

“Ryan emphatically denies the allegations and is completely innocent of the charges. The charges are baseless and he is prepared to fight them vigorously in court,” his attorney Robert Morad told The Athletic when reached by phone Monday evening. “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.”

According to Michigan criminal defense lawyer Nicole Blank Becker, the term criminal sexual conduct in the fourth degree is the least severe of all criminal sexual conduct offenses involving unconsented sexual touching or sex crime contact.

Criminal sexual conduct in the fourth degree is a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for not more than 2 years or a fine of not more than $500.00, or both.

More details to come on this developing story.