[Report] Jake Virtanen placed on leave by the Canucks following sexual misconduct allegation

[Tinky-Winky]

Jake is done for , guilty or not.

[Bure2Win]

Man it just keeps piling on this team this year.....Sigh

[Warhippy]

7 minutes ago, LionofJudah said:

This is the very sad reality we live in. I can definitely name more women in my life who have experienced assault then I can name men who have committed assault. 

 

Odds are that the women in your life who have experienced it have not told a soul about it. It took me 15 years before telling one person.

I was a bartender and server for years, high school serving to bartending through uni and in to my 2nd year of apprenticeship.

 

I watched various forms of assault happen daily.  Groping touching inappropriate comments and suggestions.  I don't think a single year went by where one of the poor gals didn't have either a seriously close call or worse.  Many times they'd bring it up to management and be told to either suck it up or face dismissal.

 

I will not comment on the matters of this case because ti is not my wheelhouse, But I also sure as hell wont' sit and ask why this woman didn't come forward earlier.  

[fecklund]

I always say the same thing when allegations like this come out:
If he's guilty, then he will be rightly punished for it.
If she's lying, whatever punishment he would have received - she should receive. 
 

[WZRD]

23 minutes ago, Apricot said:

We should always believe the victim first, always. I don’t automatically believe or assume the accused is guilty because yes false accusations do happen. Believing the victim doesn’t automatically make me believe the accused is guilty. There still needs to be an investigation, evidence. Believe me though, even though false accusations do happen, not a whole lot of people are willing to go out in public to tell their story and risk being victim-blamed, shamed, attacked, for no reason. 

Sorry but if you immediately believe the accuser then there’s someone on the other end who you’re automatically labelling as guilty. 
 

There’s definitely a way to handle the accuser and their accusations and it should always be taken seriously; but to believe them right away is ridiculous. 

[iinatcc]

21 hours ago, CupIsComing said:

Lots to figure out here. Happened 3.5 years ago, alleged victim is going to media now. Why? Says the victim has contacted police, ok when? 

I am tired of people saying "why is she only coming out now?". It's a pretty ignorant thing to say in this day in age. Aside from the obvious that the victim might not want to bring this in public so they can protect their privacy, let's not pretend that we don't have a culture that shifts the blame on the victim. And who knows that state the person is mentally after experiencing such trauma.

 

I am not saying Virtanen is guilty, that's not my point, but using the why is she only coming out now is always a dumb counter argument to use against the victim (or even the alleged victim) and needs to be stopped.

[rekker]

About right for this crap year. Innocent till proven guilty so I'm not taking any sides on this. I will say this doesn't look good. To come out with such accusations, make them public, is not easy. It would be rare for a lady to venture down this road just for $&!#s and giggles. She will be interviewed by professional investigators and once her story is processed we will see where this goes. I've met Jake and I liked him, but in no way know him. His life and career are now at a crossroad and one of the roads may well be out of his control.

[fecklund]

1 minute ago, iinatcc said:

I am tired of people saying "why is she only coming out now?". It's a pretty ignorant thing to say in this day in age. Aside from the obvious that the victim might not want to bring this in public so they can protect their privacy, let's not pretend that we don't have a culture that shifts the blame on the victim. And who knows that state the person is mentally after experiencing such trauma.

 

I am not saying Virtanen is guilty, that's not my point, but using the "why is she only coming out now" is always a dumb counter argument to use against the victim (or even the alleged victim) and needs to be stopped.

From a legal standpoint, it's irrelevant anyway, as there is no statute of limitations on sexual assault in BC.

[Apricot]

2 minutes ago, Dumb Nuck said:

I’m sorry but I really disagree, there are two sides to the story and we can’t pick and chose who to believe based on emotion. If “believe the victim” was the case I’d be scared how many false claims would arise. Having said that both condemning Jake nor shaming her are not OK.

I agree, there are two sides to the story, there always is. I don’t pick choosing to believe the victim first because of emotion. I am choosing to believe her and other victims for many other reasons that I can state later because I’m too mentally and emotionally tired. But to sum it up believe a potential liar than a potential rapist. 

[Junkyard Dog]

2 minutes ago, Warhippy said:

After seeing his conduct here in the Okanagan last year.  After seeing first hand and hearing stories of how he treated young women.  I am sure as hell not going to chime in here but the guy is certainly no gentleman.  

 

This is for the team and the courts to decide, NOT the court of public opinion.

 

BUT!

 

As for "wHy dId sHe wAiT 3 yEarS"

 

Look, I know a woman that was raped, like openly forcibly raped at a party...it was witnessed it was actually laughed about and cheered on.  She refused like outright REFUSED to go to the police, she begged her friends to not tell her fiance it happened.  She didn't want him to leave her.  She didn't want her family who were very devout catholics to think ill of her.

 

She started drinking, her relationship fell apart and it took her almost 2 years to actually seek closure, take counselling go to the police and ONLY because another woman spoke up about it.  Sadly, of all the witnesses that saw it happen; only 2 deigned to speak to police about it and 1 requested it be off the record because "it was a good friend of mine and I don't want him to think im a narc"

 

Stop asking why women wait any length of time to speak up about assaults and start asking why the hell men are still to this day refusing to accept boundaries or degrading women for speaking up about it.

 

Odds are if you don't know a rapist or a person who has committed a sexual assault, you have 100% met a woman who has been assaulted.

My mother was sexually assaulted by her step-father when she was a teen. Both her parents were alcoholics. She ended up reporting it early on and both my mother and step-father ended up going to therapy(he also went to prison).  In therapy she discovered that he was sexually assaulted/raped as a kid by the Catholic Church(step-father was native and it was way back). 
 

The step-father didn’t say anything when it happened to him and the effect it had on him lead him to commit a heinous act. He ended up getting help as did my grandmother and both of them became a better person(grandmother became a social worker for children on a the native reserve they lived on, he paid for a bunch of our Christmas’s, paid for me to go to hockey, helped pay for our first house, helped my father from not getting deported). 

 

On his deathbed the weight of what he did was still on his conscience. My mother forgave him and he ended up crying. He died the very next day. 
 

I learned all this as late teen shortly after his death. It was a pretty crazy revelation that kind of left me not knowing what to think.

 

My mother is okay with me sharing this story. She’s come to terms with it and was able to move on. 

[Arrow 1983]

22 minutes ago, ShawnAntoski said:

Good context, can you see the PR dept getting involved in something like this from a pro sports pov cause (personally) I assume the AG trade was done by the PR dept - your thoughts ?

 

Probably, good chance there will be a settlement from a PR pov ?

The Canucks organization will wants nothing to do with this. If some how this was proven the Contract with Virtanen would be terminated 

[khay]

Whether the allegation is true or not, very disappointed that my team is associated with such scandal.

 

I hope the allegations aren't true but regardless, I think Jake's time in Vancouver is over.

[ShawnAntoski]

1 minute ago, Arrow 1983 said:

The Canucks organization will wants nothing to do with this. If some how this was proven the Contract with Virtanen would be terminated 

Yeah, at this point the teams PR dept is probably getting involved right now.  

[iinatcc]

3 minutes ago, fecklund said:

From a legal standpoint, it's irrelevant anyway, as there is no statute of limitations on sexual assault in BC.

I know but it still irks me that people use that as a talking point to cast doubt on the alleged victim 

[LionofJudah]

1 minute ago, Warhippy said:

I was a bartender and server for years, high school serving to bartending through uni and in to my 2nd year of apprenticeship.

 

I watched various forms of assault happen daily.  Groping touching inappropriate comments and suggestions.  I don't think a single year went by where one of the poor gals didn't have either a seriously close call or worse.  Many times they'd bring it up to management and be told to either suck it up or face dismissal.

 

I will not comment on the matters of this case because ti is not my wheelhouse, But I also sure as hell wont' sit and ask why this woman didn't come forward earlier.  

These are the things women deal with daily. My personal experience when this topic comes up from the men around me is "what did she expect? If she wasn't wearing X" they seem like innocent enough comments but when you've been assaulted and hear those things by people you love and trust then your thought process of what others will think of you should you come forward (whether a high profile case or not) really makes it difficult to speak up. 

 

If you've been in a situation of assault you're more than likely to freeze should another situation come up. The more it happens the more mental freeze happens. 

 

I will not say Jake is innocent nor will I say he is guilty. But I do believe this women has experienced assault and is speaking up for herself and others.

 

Conversation for change.

[Bad_BOI_pete]

45 minutes ago, WZRD said:

So if you choose to believe the victim first right away before due process, that means you’re automatically believing that the accused is guilty without them having gone through due process?

either way, if eveyone just ignored this girl and it was true, it's terrible.

 

this situation sucks for all, she might be forever branded by some people, just like jake.

 

no one wins when it comes to serious assaults. 

[Junkyard Dog]

Just now, iinatcc said:

I know but it still irks me that people use that as a talking point to cast doubt on the alleged victim 

False accusations do exist but they also need to be proven just as well. 
 

Best not to believe anything yet.

[Rubik]

5 minutes ago, Apricot said:

But to sum it up believe a potential liar than a potential rapist. 

How is a potential liar any better than a potential rapist? both parties ruin others' lives. With the rapist is no brainer, but with the liar you send an innocent person to prison, where he'll be raped regularly. I think they are equally bad, both destroy lives.

[fecklund]

1 minute ago, iinatcc said:

I know but it still irks me that people use that as a talking point to cast doubt on the alleged victim 

I'm a guy and was raped by my exgf a few years back. Yes, it happens (more than you think).
I did mention it to a cop once during a separate incident but the cop laughed in my face. Didn't help she was female.
At that point I just told myself to forget about it. Damage was done anyway.

[gizmo2337]

This is just a case of what he said/she said argument. I'm surprised so many take the (incomplete) statement from one side and assume it's true. I can't see one way or the other how to prove what really happened. 

 

There's only one way for this to logically end - out of court settlement. Either way, the damage has been done.

 

As a fan of this team, our team luck really sucks. I don't know how much lower we can sink? Don't kid yourself, we are getting nothing out of this and Jake will never play for the Canucks again.