Earlier in March, the Chicago Blackhawks suspended AHL winger Garret Ross when it was revealed that the 23 year old skater had been charged with a felony count under Illinois’ revenge porn laws.
Now, though, those charges will not be prosecuted, due to a location technicality.
Nick Burzych, a radio show host on sportstownchicago.com, reported on Tuesday morning that the prosecution of Ross has ended early this week. It was determined during that the skater was in Michigan at the time that the he allegedly distributed the video of the victim that prompted the charges, therefore rendering it impossible for the state of Illinois to prosecute him under their own laws.
BREAKING: Authorities determine #Blackhawks Garret Ross was in Michigan at the time of the alleged crime, thus ending the prosecution.
— Nick. (@nburzych) March 29, 2016
It’s possible that the victim could re-bring the charges against Ross in the state of Michigan instead, since that’s another one of the states across the US that has revenge porn laws in effect (theirs were signed in the summer of 2014). Unlike the Illinois laws, though, revenge porn is only considered a misdemeanor in Michigan. Should the victim opt to take this course of action, the maximum penalty for Ross would be 93 days in jail (significantly shorter than the 1-3 year sentence in Illinois) and a maximum fine of $500 (in Illinois, the maximum fine is $25,000).
The Blackhawks have not yet released a statement following the revelation that the charges in Illinois have been dropped.
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