NHL Star's Rape Case Dismissed

Chicago Blackhawks star Patrick Kane can breathe easy knowing that a rape case against him will proceed no further. "The totality of the credible evidence … does not sufficiently substantiate the complainant's allegation that she was raped by Patrick Kane and this so-called 'case' is rife with reasonable doubt," Erie County DA Frank Sedita says in a statement, per the Buffalo News, adding the case will not be presented to a grand jury. A 21-year-old woman alleged Kane, 26, sexually assaulted her while the pair were alone in a bedroom at his home in Hamburg, NY, on Aug. 2, after meeting at a Buffalo bar. However, the woman told investigators this week that she no longer wanted to participate in the investigation because it was causing stress on her and her family.

"After fully discussing all the circumstances with my attorney, I have decided I do not wish to criminally prosecute the charges which stem out of this investigation," she said in a signed "Non-Prosecution Affidavit," per NBC Chicago. While Kane's DNA was found on the woman's shoulders and fingernails, there was no trace on her genital area or undergarments. "The DNA results lend no corroboration whatsoever to the complainant's claim of penetration, a required element of proof for a rape charge," Sedita says. He adds the forensic evidence also contradicted the woman's claim that she was raped on Kane's bed. In September, it emerged that the woman's mother had staged an "elaborate hoax" meant to suggest that evidence in the case had been tampered with. (More Patrick Kane stories.)