Victim John Doe exposed in report on Hawks’ sexual scandal made public

On Tuesday, the Chicago Blackhawks announced their general manager and president Stan Bowman had stepped down in the wake of an independent investigation into allegations that a then-assistant coach sexually assaulted two players in 2010. The report, called “disturbing and difficult to read” by CEO Danny Wirtz, has been handed over to the NHL. The league shortly after fined the Hawks $2-million for “inadequate procedures and mishandling” of 2010 sexual assault.

The allegations came to light this past offseason after a former player filed a lawsuit in Chicago against the franchise. That unnamed player alleges that he reported the abuse to the team and that he was essentially ignored. The player alleges that then team video coach Brad Aldrich had allegedly sexually assaulted him and then threatened him via text messages and other communications against making a complaint. A second former player alleges that he was also sexual assaulted by Aldrich and he also accuses the Blackhawks of covering up the abuse of two players and then granting Aldrich a letter of reference when he left the team quietly in the summer of 2010. That letter gave him the opportunity to go on and find other victims, the lawsuit alleges.

While many positive changes were made following the report that came out on Tuesday, many are uncomfortable with some of the things that were made public in that aforementioned report. We can only agree. Not only did they have to send major sensitive-content warnings, but it might have been forgotten to protect the victims. While names were not mentioned, some of the identifying details they shared have exposed John Doe and the other plaintiff.

The description of John Doe is way too specific to maintain anonymity… “John Doe was a twenty-year-old hockey player for the Blackhawks’ minor league affiliate team. He was called up to Chicago during the 2010 playoffs to serve as a “Black Ace,” a prospect player who could be available to play for the Blackhawks if needed.”

The report reveals too many details and it becomes easy to figure out who the victim was… Fans have been respectful, though many tweets, comments and questions were posted on this late Tuesday night.

What makes it even more difficult for victims here is that late on Tuesday “2010 Chicago Blackhawks Black Aces” was coming up on my autofill google result, which means people are digging.

The victims don’t deserve this.