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Kane won't be prosecuted in alleged rape case

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Erie County District Attorney Frank Sedita III will not present the alleged rape case against hockey superstar and Buffalo native Patrick Kane to a grand jury, saying the case is "rife with reasonable doubt."Sedita made the announcement Thursday morning, after months of speculation.

In a written statement, Sedita says "The totality of the credible evidence -- the proof -- does not sufficiently substantiate the complainant’s allegation that she was raped by Patrick Kane and this so-called “case” is rife with reasonable doubt."

The DA says his office, along with the Town of Hamburg Police Department conducted an "exhaustive investigation" over the course of three months regarding allegations made by a 21-year-old woman that Kane, 26,  raped her on his bed.

Sedita says the investigation found there are "significant material inconsistencies between the complainant’s accounts and those of other witnesses," DNA results "lend no corroboration whatsoever" to the complainant’s claim of penetration, a required element of proof for a rape charge, and the physical evidence and the forensic evidence, when viewed in tandem, "tend to contradict the complainant’s claim that she was raped on Kane’s bed."

The accuser claimed she met Kane at a downtown Buffalo bar on August 2. She said she and a friend went to Kane's offseason Hamburg home, where she was raped.

Kane issued the following statement Thursday afternoon: “I have repeatedly said that I did nothing wrong. I have respected the legal process and I am glad that this matter has now been closed and I will have nothing further to say going forward.”

The district attorney says the complainant recently decided against proceeding with a criminal prosecution. She signed a “non-prosecution affidavit” that states, in part, “That after fully discussing all the circumstances with my attorney, I have decided I do not wish to criminally prosecute the charges which stem out of this investigation. I do so of my own free will and without any promises or compensation.”

Kane, Sedita says, has exercised his constitutional right to remain silent throughout the process and has made "no known incriminating statements to any civilian, nor has he engaged in any conduct consistent with a consciousness of guilt."

The case took a bizarre turn in late September when Sedita said a ripped evidence bag that was supposedly found at the home of the accuser's mother was a hoax. The accuser's attorney subsequently ended his representation of the woman.

The allegation attracted national attention. Kane, a South Buffalo native, is considered one of the world's best hockey players. He has won three Stanley Cup championships with the Chicago Blackhawks since being selected first overall in the 2007 NHL Draft.

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