Player has his contract terminated for the 2nd time this season

Just a month after the ECHL's Adirondack Thunder signed and then terminated a standard player contract for 31 year old convicted sex offender Ben Johnson, the ECHL's Allen Americans have done the same.

The Americans signed Johnson on Monday but released him today following some pretty severe backlash on social media.

There are rumors that the team's management had no clue about Johnson's prior convictions. The Calumet, Michigan native was found guilty of two counts of sexual assault in connection from two separate incidents that took place in Windsor, ON during his time with the OHL's Windsor Spitfires.

From Wikipedia:

The first occurred against a 16-year-old girl in the washroom of Mynt nightclub during the Spitfires' end of season St. Patrick's Day party. Johnson forced her to perform oral sex in a bathroom stall while she was intoxicated before he raped her, causing vaginal bleeding.[7][8] During the course of the investigation, a second woman, aged 20, came forward and told police that she had also been sexually assaulted by Johnson in the washroom of a second bar weeks prior.[9] He was found guilty on September 1, 2016, of the charge related to events at the Mynt nightclub.

The New Jersey Devils, who had drafted him 90th overall in 2012, terminated his contract the day he was found guilty. He served a 3 year prison sentence at the South West Detention Centre in Windsor, ON.

After playing parts of four seasons in the Slovak league, Johnson was evidently looking to continue his pro career back in North America this season and signed on with the Thunder just yesterday. Then, either on their own volition or after facing public backlash, the team decided to terminate their contract with Johnson.

What happens next is unclear. But what is clear is that teams in North America aren't interested in promotion a convicted rapist on their team.