Jake Virtanen found not guilty in sexual assault case

Former Vancouver Canucks forward Jake Virtanen took the stand over the course of this past week in his sexual assault trial, where he is being accused of a 2017 sexual assault on an 18 year old woman.

Virtanen plead not guilty in the case and maintained that the sexual relations between him and his accuser were entirely consensual. Now, after a week long trial and 24 hours of deliberations the jury has found Virtanen NOT guilty of sexual assault.

The unnamed now 23 year old woman filed a lawsuit against Virtanen in BC Supreme Court this past Spring that alleged Virtanen forced himself on her in a Vancouver hotel room without her consent. Last week the woman took the stand to testify her version of events and stated that she told Virtanen "No, I don’t want to do this, I don’t want to do this," and pushed him away from her but he ignored her and instead he forced himself on her. Virtanen's defence lawyer questioned why she didn't simply “invent an excuse,” such as having a yeast infection or menstruation, to avoid a sexual interaction with Virtanen. To which she replied, “I thought saying, ‘No' and physically pushing him off of me was enough. What else did I have to say?” Virtanen's lawyer began today's proceedings by apologizing for this line of questioning, calling it "insensitive."

On Thursday Virtanen himself took the stand and stated that the events did not play out as the plaintiff describes them and that the sexual acts between them were consensual.

Global News' Kamir Karamali with more from Virtanen's testimony:

Needless to say, there's a lot of dirty laundry being aired out the public to see in this trial.

Virtanen, who hasn't played since the 2020-21 season, played last season in the KHL with Moscow Spartak. After being selected 6th overall in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft ahead of players like David Pastrnak, William Nylander, Dylan Larkin and Nikolaj Ehlers, Virtanen is often described as one of the biggest 'draft busts' of the past decade.