Boucher was 17 years old at the time and the victim was only 12.
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Former Vancouver Canuck Reid Boucher pleaded guilty in a Michigan court to sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl in 2011.
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Boucher, 28, was 17 at the time and was playing for the US National Hockey Team Development Program, based in Plymouth, Michigan.
Boucher was being housed by the victim’s family.
The victim said Boucher twice forced her to engage in sexual acts.
Boucher was originally charged with first-degree criminal sexual conduct, which carries a sentence of 25 years to life in prison, but pleaded guilty on December 13 in Washtenaw County Trial Court to third-degree criminal sexual conduct involving sexual penetration with a person between the ages of 13 and 16.
As part of the plea deal, Circuit Judge Patrick Conlin will not sentence Boucher to any jail time up front. Boucher’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for January 31.
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According to the Detroit Free Press, the judge said the sentence reduction was appropriate given the “unusual” circumstances in the case and also noted Boucher’s age at the time of the reported assault and how much time has passed since then.
Since the crime occurred when Boucher was a minor, under Michigan state law, if he successfully serves whatever his sentence is, the conviction will not appear on his public record.
The young woman, now 23, told the Detroit Free Press she is upset with prayer.
“He has never had to face any responsibility. And then in the meantime… my whole life shattered into a million pieces,” he said. “I had to rebuild that over the last 10 years.”
He said he didn’t even tell his parents what had happened until he was 15 and had drug and alcohol problems, self-harmed and developed an eating disorder. She said the case of Larry Nassar, the USA Gymnastics team doctor who was convicted of molesting hundreds of girls and women, led her to report her allegations to police in Ann Arbor, Michigan, last year.
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Around the time of the assaults, the woman said she told her friends. According to the Free Press, the father of one of her friends found out about her accusations and later took them to USA Hockey, who eventually got Boucher out of her house.
Boucher played 48 games for the Canucks from 2017 to 2019. He also played in the NHL for the Nashville Predators and the New Jersey Devils. He has played the last two seasons in the Kontinental Hockey League, currently with Yaroslavl Lokomotiv.
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Reference-theprovince.com