Johnson Acquitted in Sexual Assault Trial

Former Calumet hockey player Ben Johnson has been acquitted of charges that he sexually assaulted a woman in a nightclub in Windsor, Canada, two years ago. The lengthy trial ended this morning when judge Micheline Rawlins issued her verdict in a case that had dragged on for more than a year. Johnson was accused of molesting a woman in the men’s rest room at the Crooked Kilt Bar. The woman had entered the men’s rest room voluntarily, ostensibly because the women’s rest room was full. According to the Windsor Star, Judge Rawlins indicated that she believed an encounter did occur, but did not see evidence that it rose to the level of assault. There had been allegations that the victim may have blown the incident out of proportion, in hopes of gaining a financial settlement.

Johnson still faces similar charges in a second, unrelated case that also occurred when he was a member of the Windsor Spitfires hockey team.