News Article: Two women say Reid Boucher solicited photos of them when they were teens

[F A N]

I know that this typically gets moved to the Former Players thread, but I feel that the more people who know about Reid Boucher the better.

Katie Strang has another wonderful article in the Athletic:

Two women say Reid Boucher solicited photos of them when they were teens

In October 2014, then 21-year-old New Jersey Devils prospect Reid Boucher attempted over Facebook to solicit photos from a 15-year-old Canadian girl.

Around midnight one evening, Boucher messaged the girl, asking how old she was. After she told him, he remarked that she looked older and lamented that she was “too young to do anything I’d ask,” like send photos via Snapchat. She agreed she was too young. Two weeks later, Boucher messaged her again, a little after 1 a.m., asking: “Still a no huh?” She responded that her age hadn’t changed.

A woman in New Jersey had a similar interaction with Boucher in January 2014. Boucher sent the girl, who was then 17, Facebook messages asking her to send him photos of her breasts via Snapchat.

Islanders GM Lou Lamoriello, who was GM of the New Jersey Devils when the team drafted Boucher in 2011, told The Athletic that the organization had no knowledge of the sexual assault in Michigan involving the 12-year-old and would not have selected him had the club been aware. Boucher later played for the Nashville Predators and Vancouver Canucks.

Jacques Beaulieu, who was the coach and general manager of the Sarnia Sting when Boucher joined the program, told The Athletic he was not aware of any incident with Boucher during his time with the USNTDP.

Click to read more...

 

[rypper]

What a straight up creep. The fact that he got off pretty easy on the initial charge, I hope everyone involved in giving him that break feels like a major asshole as more and more information comes out about the predator he is.

 

[Baby Pettersson]

That's terrible. What a creep. May be to transparent but vermin like him deserve more than just jail time...

 

[Dab]

Only a matter of time until this sicko does it again and I hope he’s f***ing nailed for it!

 

[Red]

Disgusting child predator.

 

[Bojack Horvatman]

Really sucks this guy has never faced any real consequences. Sick f*** belongs on a list for life

 

[God]

USA Hockey needs to be held accountable for this. Brushing that under the rug has lead to these incidents, and god knows what else.

 

[wonton15]

Is it even possible that his junior team didn't know a single word about it? Deep rooted issues in hockey culture.

 

[MS]

Is it even possible that his junior team didn't know a single word about it? Deep rooted issues in hockey culture.

I mean, if USA Hockey just shifted his billet house and covered the whole thing up without ever suspending him or doing anything that would have raised questions ... I'd say it's definitely possible.

 

[AlainVigneaultsGum]

f***ing scumbag.

 

[604]

He's a scumbag and the assholes who covered it up are also scumbags.

Stuff like this is where people need to be investigated and punished - meaning look into everyone who knew and didn't do anything about it and punish them too.

 

[Diversification]

Sentencing decision not yet made. This is the push from the victim's side to put pressure on the judge and prosecutor to up the punishment. Hope Boucher gets his just deserts.

 

[krutovsdonut]

yeah, the whole blackmail angle from the first story had me concerned this was not just a 17 year old kid being a dumbass.

he wasn't 17 in this one. i wonder where he physically was in october 2014 when he sent that last text they quote. that exchange might get him a criminal conviction in some us states.

 

[Mr. Canucklehead]

POS. Absolutely knew more stories like this would come out in the wake of his charge last week. The behaviour he exhibited there was that of a predator - there are definitely more victims (and attempted victims) out there.

He should be thrown in jail. f***ing piece of shit.

 

[F A N]

Sentencing decision not yet made. This is the push from the victim's side to put pressure on the judge and prosecutor to up the punishment. Hope Boucher gets his just deserts.

My understanding is that it's not going to make much difference. A plea deal was offered (no jail time, no criminal record, no registration as a sex offender) and accepted by the judge. The allegations made by the two women in this article were not proven in court so should have little bearing on the sentencing. The prosecutor who offered the plea deal isn't going to renege on it now, and the judge who accepted the plea deal in the first place is the one sentencing Boucher. It doesn't look good...

And even going by the article, while Boucher was then 21 (which counters the judge's it happened so long ago argument), Boucher allegedly just asked for photos of a 15 year old (article doesn't specify nude), and with the then 17 year old there was no conversation about age. Given that no photos were shared, I'm not sure that Boucher even broke any State laws there.

 

[cc]

These kinds of stories always makes me feel ill... I'm especially embarrassed that I once thought he probably should have had more of a chance to make it to the NHL.
He seems like a potential repeat offender. I wouldn't be surprised if there were others that haven't spoken out yet from shame or trauma.

 

[Canuck Luck]

Want to start by saying I’m in no way condoning any of boucher’s actions or making excuses for him, this story of asking underaged girls for nudes on Snapchat is imo very common in todays society. It’s so easy nowadays for guys that are 17+ to still be able to talk to underaged girls from their schools online or just ones they find on social media. Guarantee none of them think of how seriously bad what they are doing is or just don’t care

 

[BenningHurtsMySoul]

There are likely many, many instances of players that have been doing this or did it in the past for years.

Being a professional athlete gives you a sense of power and status reserved only for movie stars and famous musicians. You have the ability to manipulate vulnerable people in ways that are simply impossible for 99.9% of others - and I am certain a portion of them cannot handle that power without abusing it. Athletes should honestly be constantly in some kind of professional therapy at all times, especially junior players (they are in development years).

Getting away with actions like this embeds deep in your subconscious that you are able to get away with doing things that nobody else would. That reinforces the behaviour and teaches you that there are no consequences for your actions.

 

[Dab]

My understanding is that it's not going to make much difference. A plea deal was offered (no jail time, no criminal record, no registration as a sex offender) and accepted by the judge. The allegations made by the two women in this article were not proven in court so should have little bearing on the sentencing. The prosecutor who offered the plea deal isn't going to renege on it now, and the judge who accepted the plea deal in the first place is the one sentencing Boucher. It doesn't look good...

And even going by the article, while Boucher was then 21 (which counters the judge's it happened so long ago argument), Boucher allegedly just asked for photos of a 15 year old (article doesn't specify nude), and with the then 17 year old there was no conversation about age. Given that no photos were shared, I'm not sure that Boucher even broke any State laws there.

I don’t see how anyone could be certain there aren’t more victims out there. You honestly think this guy propositioned exactly 3 underage girls for naked photos and didn’t get any? I’d make a wager the other way- that there are probably more victims and possibly explicit photos.

 

[Hoglander]

Thanks for bringing him aboard, Benning...

 

[M2Beezy]

Cant say i remember too much about this guy from playing for us. Sounds super scummy

 

[tantalum]

Horrible story. Terrible person. Absolutely disgusting.

Katie Strang has been tremendous with The Athletic.

 

[bandwagonesque]

Thanks for bringing him aboard, Benning...

Is this really the time and place?

 

[F A N]

I don’t see how anyone could be certain there aren’t more victims out there. You honestly think this guy propositioned exactly 3 underage girls for naked photos and didn’t get any? I’d make a wager the other way- that there are probably more victims and possibly explicit photos.

That's not what I'm saying at all.

What I was responding to was: "Sentencing decision not yet made. This is the push from the victim's side to put pressure on the judge and prosecutor to up the punishment."

If there are more victims out there, there would be potentially new and separate criminal charges. Won't affect this plea deal or sentencing.

In terms of Boucher allegedly soliciting photos from the girls described in the article, because no photos were exchanged, I doubt any state laws were broken so nothing criminal would come out of it.

None of this is to say that there aren't more victims out there and more criminal charges to come.

 

[Zanon]

There are likely many, many instances of players that have been doing this or did it in the past for years.

Being a professional athlete gives you a sense of power and status reserved only for movie stars and famous musicians. You have the ability to manipulate vulnerable people in ways that are simply impossible for 99.9% of others - and I am certain a portion of them cannot handle that power without abusing it. Athletes should honestly be constantly in some kind of professional therapy at all times, especially junior players (they are in development years).

Getting away with actions like this embeds deep in your subconscious that you are able to get away with doing things that nobody else would. That reinforces the behaviour and teaches you that there are no consequences for your actions.

dO yOu eVeN kNoW wHo i aM???