Former Quebec hockey player Mike Ribeiro was charged Tuesday in Texas with two counts of sexual assault for alleged acts on June 23, 2021.
The 43-year-old was indicted by a grand jury in January 2022 and possibly on another attempted sexual assault. He will have to defend himself in a Franklin County court and could spend several years behind bars if found guilty, as the station KLTV reminds.
• Also read: “I’m available,” Gerard Gallant remembers
• Also read: NHL: Is Patrick Kane coming back very soon?
• Also read: Patrick Roy pays tribute to Jonathan Marchessault
In their opening statement in court, the prosecution mentions that the former Montreal Canadiens player attacked three women while visiting the defendant's lakeside residence, a property he wanted to sell and which had aroused the interest of the alleged victims. He is said to have attacked one of them on a boat despite her lack of consent, while another was allegedly touched while she was on a jet ski with Ribeiro.
As for the third woman involved, she is said to have elbowed the person when he also touched her inappropriately while on a jet ski.
The defense argues that the victims – who, according to the argument, were on the boat at the same time – did not express their distress to warn each other and ask for immediate help. However, according to Ribeiro's lawyers, the crime scene was not revisited until 2023 and the nurse who carried out a test on the victims after the alleged acts did not correctly follow the established protocol.
Many problems
The former Dallas Stars player faces a maximum of 20 years in prison for sexual assault and 10 years for attempted sexual assault.
The player, who has played a total of 1,074 regular season games in his career, had several problems off the ice. These include a trespassing arrest in Miami in 2017 and a civil lawsuit filed in 2015 by a former nanny alleging she was attacked in her sleep. The case was settled amicably.
Finally, Ribeiro's drug and alcohol problems have often made headlines. After completing his final season in the National League, his agent, Bob Perno, said he had not heard from him in several months.