Garret Ross, Blackhawks prospect, charged in revenge porn case

Garret Ross is a 23-year-old winger for the Rockford IceHogs, the Chicago Blackhawks’ AHL affiliate. He didn’t play in their games over the weekend, with coach Ted Dent saying it was a “coach’s decision,” according to Chris Block of Third Man In.

But Block reports that it wasn’t the coach who made the call – it was the Blackhawks. That’s because Ross has been charged with one felony count of "non-consensual dissemination of private sexual images,” which is more colloquially known as “revenge porn.”

According to TMZ:

Officials say back in August (2015), the player shared a photo of a woman "engaged in a sexual act, which was obtained under circumstances which Ross should have known the image was to remain private." Officials say Ross also should have known the woman "had not consented to the dissemination."

Ross picked the wrong state (and time) for this malarkey. Illinois passed a “revenge porn law” that went into effect in July 2015. From the Balough Law Offices blog:

Under the new law, non-consensual dissemination of private sexual images occurs when an image of a person over 18, who is identifiable from the image or information displayed with the image, is engaged in a sexual act or “whose intimate parts are exposed, in whole or in part,” the image was obtained “under circumstances in which a reasonable person would know or understand that the image was to remain private,” and where the person depicted has not given consent for the dissemination.

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In addition to the possibility of jail time, the property of a person violating the act is subject to forfeiture.

Here’s a copy of the complaint:

As you can see, the offense date was Aug. 31, 2015. Ross has played 59 games this season for the IceHogs, with 7 goals and 13 assists and 107 penalty minutes.

From Third Man In:

It’s unclear at this point when Blackhawks management knew of the charges against Ross. The case has been ongoing.  A plea hearing in February was postponed and is now scheduled to take place next Monday.

So why take him out of the lineup now? Because the story broke on social media and digital media in the last several days, of course. Blackhawks gonna Blackhawk ...

Please note that the IceHogs pulled Ross’s game-worn Star Wars-themed jersey from their charity auction on Sunday. Because if you think the Blackhawks are upset over one of their players being associated with revenge porn, shudder at the wrath of Disney if that had happened. We're talking a Starkiller Base level of destruction ...

s/t Second City Hockey

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Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.

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