Ex-Canucks F Jake Virtanen found not guilty of sex assault

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — A jury has found former Vancouver Canucks forward Jake Virtanen not guilty of sexual assault. The 25-year-old Virtanen wept openly when the verdict was read Tuesday in the Supreme Court of British Columbia. Virtanen was charged in January with sexual assault in connection with an incident in a downtown Vancouver hotel room in September 2017. He told the court last week that the woman who accused him of assault was an “enthusiastic participant” in the encounter. The 23-year-old woman testified that she repeatedly said “no” and told Virtanen that she did not want to have sex with him before he pinned her to the hotel bed with his body.