KHL team responds to criticism over signing Reid Boucher

When former NHLer Reid Boucher was convicted of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl, many assumed his professional hocky career was over. Boucher pleaded guilty to third degree sexual assault in incidents that took place when he was 17 and in the US Hockey Development Program. He was sentenced to four years of probation and a one year suspended jail sentence pending the successful completion of the probation. So, it was somewhat of a shock when it was announced that Boucher would be playing for Avangard Omsk of the KHL in the 2022-23 season. The team's general manager, Alexei Volkov, is now responding to criticism over the signing.

"To all moralists, I wish you could look in the mirror more often. All of us are not without sin. It is wrong to lynch a man. Before we signed him, we studied all the materials. Our club received the excerpts from his trial, and our lawyers evaluated them," said Volkov. "This case was classified as 'secret' and there were no open data. If there was something really serious, he would have been sentenced to a huge term. But he's not restricted in his travel or his work. I'm glad to see the [Corban] Knight-Boucher connection reunited."

The survivor of the assault, now 23, wasn't happy with the sentencing at the time.

"I feel like a lot of the progress I've made over the last 10 years – that's been undone," she said.

Boucher, now 28, played six seasons in the NHL before heading to Russia to continue his career. He's been playing there since 2020.

Source: Sport-Express.ru

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