Virtanen’s agent defends ousted Vancouver Canuck, raises questions following sexual misconduct claims

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — The agent for ousted Vancouver Canucks forward, Jake Virtanen, is questioning why the complainant who is accusing his client of sexual assault chose to file a civil lawsuit over seeking criminal charges.

On Saturday, for the first time since Virtanen was accused of sexual misconduct, a statement from his agent, Kevin Epp said the way the accusation unfolded is “unusual and troubling.”

The statement was posted on Twitter by hockey industry insider Frank Seravalli.

“Sexual assault is a very serious and harmful problem, and being accused of this, even without any criminal charges being laid, has devastating consequences,” Epp’s statement reads.

Statement from Kevin Epp, on behalf of client Jake Virtanen. pic.twitter.com/gliUMi1C67

— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) August 7, 2021

When Virtanen was still playing for the Canucks, Epp says his client first heard about the allegations through anonymous social-media postings. He adds the claims led to a negative impact on his career and family.

An Instagram account dedicated to sharing stories of sexual assault posted allegations from a woman.

A civil lawsuit was later filed in Kelowna, alleging Virtanen took an 18-year-old woman to a hotel in West Vancouver in September 2017 and assaulted her as the woman repeatedly said no and pleaded with him to stop.

The statement of claim said the woman suffered physical and emotional damage, including post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, and repeated and ongoing nightmares.

“Virtanen’s actions were deliberate, flagrant, and outrageous,” the notice reads, claiming his “actions were premeditated and intentional.”

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However, Kyla Lee, a criminal lawyer at Acumen Law Corporation, tells NEWS 1130 it’s not surprising to see a person who claims to be a victim of a sexual assault proceed with a civil allegation without contacting police.

“There’s a lot of research and studies that have shown that police response sometimes to allegations of sexual assault is not always very fruitful … There’s also a perception that the allegations won’t be taken seriously that prevent victims of sexual assault from reporting.

“So the idea that a complainant in a sexual assault case would pursue a civil suit rather than pursuing criminal allegations first, isn’t that surprising and isn’t that unusual. While it’s not ordinary that a police report is not filed before a civil suit takes place, it does happen, and it has happened in numerous cases.”

Lee explains that through a criminal case, the long process involves multiple interviews with witnesses, and attempts to speak to the accused. And she says ultimately, cases can come down to a “he said she said” situation — making the pursue for criminal charges challenging. “In some circumstances, it might make prosecutors less likely to approve a charge because they wouldn’t be able to prove or satisfy themselves, that the charge would substantially be likely to be proven in court.”

However, for complainants in a sexual assault case, Lee says a civil case can seem more attractive. Since they can file a notice of civil claim independently or through a lawyer, the claim gets filed and served on the individuals who are involved in the lawsuit, and then it proceeds before the court.

“So you can make the allegation, you don’t have to go through interviews, you don’t have to go through a process of being retraumatized, and nobody is assessing the claim at the time you’re filing it in court to determine whether it can be proven.

“In addition, a civil claim can be proven on a balance of probabilities. So, what is more likely than not to have happened? As opposed to what happened beyond a reasonable doubt? So civil claims are easier to prove than a criminal charge would be.”

Related Article: Advocate pushes back on suggestion by Virtanen agent that civil suit filed on sex assault claims is ‘unusual’

Lee adds, concerns that a complainant might take into account is that someone like Virtanen (a high profile figure) might feel the investigation will be treated differently.

“Also given the passage of time, and the fact that the little public statements that have been made so far seem to suggest that there’s a different recollection of events between these two individuals. It would be easier for the case to be proven in court by using the civil process than the criminal process.”

“As this case gets addressed through the police investigation and civil court process, this could be determined as an attempt to destroy a person’s reputation in the press before the ordinary processes could run their course, or an attempt to obtain financial compensation from a high-profile athlete,” Epp’s statement reads.

In the statement, Epp adds, the civil lawsuit was leaked to media twice “in direct violation of a court sealing order.”

But court documents accessed by reporters were under sealing order, not a publication ban.

The notice is seeking punitive and exemplary damages against the 24-year-old hockey player.

Virtanen denied the allegation in a response filed on June 1, saying the pair had consensual sex and denying that the woman “expressed any indication, verbal or physical, that she did not want to engage in physical activity.”

Epp reiterated Virtanen is denying allegations in his recent statement.

Epp claims Virtanen had “consensual physical relations with a woman,” adding drugs and alcohol were not involved.”

“[Virtanen] is adamant that absolutely nothing improper occurred and denies in the strongest possible terms any suggestion that this was non-consensual,” the statement reads.

Virtanen is asking for the lawsuit to be dismissed and for the court to award him special costs due to the nature of the allegations.

“As this case gets addressed through the police investigation and civil court process, this could be determined as an attempt to destroy a person’s reputation in the press before the ordinary processes could run their course, or an attempt to obtain financial compensation from a high-profile athlete,” Epp’s statement reads.

The lawyer adds, Virtanen is cooperating with the police investigation.

No criminal charges have been laid. The allegation has not been tested in court.

Read More: Vancouver Canucks buy out contract of embattled forward Jake Virtanen

– With files from The Canadian Press