BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich. — The criminal case against Ryan Kesler, a former NHL center charged with two misdemeanor counts of criminal sexual conduct in the fourth degree, is headed to trial, a judge ruled on Thursday.
The prosecution successfully established probable cause against Kesler during a preliminary examination, district judge Marc Barron found.
Kesler, 41, has pleaded not guilty to the charges, which were filed against him on Oct. 23 over events on Jan. 1, according to court records.
According to the criminal complaint, both counts allege that Kesler engaged in sexual contact with a 16-year-old child “through force or coercion and/or (had) reason to know the victim was physically helpless.
The alleged victim is now 17 and was a friend of Kesler’s eldest daughter.
During more than two hours on the stand, she told the court that, after falling asleep on a couch next to Kesler in the hours following a New Year’s Eve party at his home, she awoke to find his foot rubbing her crotch and her foot touching his erect penis over a pair of shorts.
Kesler’s attorneys argued, among other things, that inconsistencies in the accuser’s recounting of the night to law enforcement and a local children’s advocacy center should’ve stopped the case from going to trial.
“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 on Oct. 27. “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 native of Livonia, Mich., played for two NHL teams — the Vancouver Canucks and Anaheim Ducks — from 2003-19 and was a member of the 2010 and 2014 U.S. Olympic teams.
This story will be updated.