Patrick Kane's Accuser No Longer Wishes To Cooperate With Investigation, Charges Unlikely To Be Brought

(Source) The local woman who accused National Hockey League star Patrick Kane of rape three months ago has notified the Erie County District Attorney’s Office that she no longer wants to cooperate in the investigation, five sources with knowledge of the case told The Buffalo News on Monday. The woman has told authorities that the high-profile investigation has caused tremendous stress for her and her family, and that she no longer wishes to participate.

The alleged victim spoke to investigators at the District Attorney’s Office at length last week, and after that, signed a document called an “affidavit declining prosecution,” which is now under consideration by District Attorney Frank A. Sedita III, one of the sources said. “She was no longer interested in going forward,” another source told The News.

The woman first asked the DA’s staff about the status of the investigation before stating that she no longer wants to cooperate, this source said. Sedita, who ultimately will decide whether the case goes forward or not, declined to confirm or deny the information obtained by The News. He said he will not announce his next moves in the case until he speaks with the prosecutor who is directly handling the case. 

That prosecutor is currently on vacation, said Sedita, who will be elected Tuesday as a State Supreme Court judge. He faces no opposition. In a story published Sunday, The News quoted three sources with knowledge of the Kane case as saying it now appears highly unlikely that any criminal charges will be filed against Kane in connection with the woman’s allegations. The sources also indicated that Sedita has decided not to present evidence about the allegations to a grand jury for possible indictment.

Authorities have decided there are too many questions about the woman’s rape allegations for them to proceed with rape charges, which could put the 26-year-old Chicago Blackhawks star – a South Buffalo native who now lives in Hamburg – in jail.

From a legal standpoint looks like the Patrick Kane alleged rape case is all but over. Who knows what will possibly happen going forward when it comes to Civil proceedings, but Kane having charges officially announced or even brought to trial seems to be at or near zero percent chance.

Now for how this was all handled. I still stand by everything I wrote and my stance on this from the very beginning. I  maintain that declaring innocence or guilt without an official ruling from the police or court system is not only bad but pretty damn dangerous when it comes to high profile cases of this nature. People who called Patrick Kane a rapist from day 1 and people who were behind the #ISupport88 twitter campaign are equally as reckless in my mind. The conclusion of this matters but so does how everyone acted on the path to getting there.