Asst Coach charged

[scamperdog]

Giants asst charged with assaulting 18 year old girl, Dan Kress was arrested Saturday, released on $500 bail, (story in todays Province)

[Beaner]

Here is the article, from The Province.

Giants' assistant charged with assaulting woman, 18
Dan Kesa, 33, arrested Saturday, released on $500 bail

Matthew Ramsey
The Province


October 6, 2005

A Vancouver Giants assistant coach is charged with assault causing bodily harm for an alleged attack on an 18-year-old woman.

Dragan "Dan" Kesa, 33, was arrested by Coquitlam RCMP at about 4 a.m. Saturday, confirmed Const. Dave Babineau.

The Province has subsequently learned from court documents that the former right-winger who once played for the Vancouver Canucks was released from custody Sunday on $500 bail and numerous conditions, including that he have no contact with his alleged victim and that he stay at least two blocks way from her home.

Kesa -- whose career in hockey has included stints with the Canucks (in 1993-94), Dallas Stars (1995-96), Pittsburgh Penguins (1998-99), Tampa Bay Lightning (1999-00) and teams in Russia and Austria -- will appear in court again in Port Coquitlam Nov. 7.

The woman Kesa is accused of attacking spoke to The Province yesterday on condition of anonymity. She claims the two met in the spring and have been dating since April.

She said she, some friends and relatives of Kesa went to the team's opening game against Prince George at the Pacific Coliseum on Friday night. She says she used a ticket Kesa gave her.

The woman claims she was ejected from the stands by security for using profanity in an area where families were present.

She says she met up with Kesa after the Giants' 5-1 victory. Hours later at his Coquitlam home she alleges the two got into an argument. At some point the argument got physical, she claims.

"He kept yelling at me even after I left the room," she said yesterday.

She called a male friend who picked her up and took her from Kesa's home to Eagle Ridge Hospital, where police were contacted. The woman says she was in hospital for about four hours before she went to the Coquitlam RCMP to talk to police.

"They wanted pictures, a statement, the whole works," she said. "He deserves to have the media know what happened."

News of the alleged attack came as a shock to Giants' owner Ron Toigo, who said he was not aware of the charge.

The team will conduct an investigation of its own, he added.

"It's something I'll look into right away," Toigo said yesterday. "I don't know anything about it."

Kesa, who played 139 games in the NHL, joined the Western Hockey League Giants as an assistant coach to Don Hay this summer.

Kesa applied for the position and got the job because of his long experience playing the game, his ties to the community and the work he was prepared to put into the team, Toigo said.

"Dan has been a great addition to our organization. He's very focused on the task at hand . . . This is a bit of a surprise," Toigo said.

Toigo said the team's spirits were high after their romp to victory Friday: "Everybody left [the arena] pretty happy. He [Kesa] was happy just like everybody else."

The Giants had not suspended Kesa as of yesterday afternoon. The probe will look at possible repercussions that the assistant may face, Toigo said, stressing Kesa is innocent until proven guilty. A guilty verdict could see Kesa sentenced to jail for anywhere from 18 months to 10 years.

He was charged with assault in Vancouver in July 1997. The charge was eventually dropped.

mramsey@png.canwest.com

© The Vancouver Province 2005

My feeling is that he should be suspended until the Giants have done their investigation, not the other way around.

[Tinner]

rather than suspending him, which in my opinion is saying he's guilty until proven inocent, they should give him a paid leave of absense until eveyone, including him has had time to give their version on the events that took place. Right now, as i see it, the only version we are hearing is hers and not to say she isnt right, just to say lets hear all the facts.

[Stay-Puft]

I think you let the investigation take it's course before any decisions are made. Let them get all the facts together to make a correct course of action. This will affect the rest of his life.

Personally, I would have liked to see them print what the court documents say happened, rather that hear it from the alleged victim. Newspapers should be printing fact or legal documents, not testimony. Testimony is something for the judicial system.

[langdak]

I think you let the investigation take it's course before any decisions are made. Let them get all the facts together to make a correct course of action. This will affect the rest of his life.

Personally, I would have liked to see them print what the court documents say happened, rather that hear it from the alleged victim. Newspapers should be printing fact or legal documents, not testimony. Testimony is something for the judicial system.

I could agree with you more.

The media loves to grab this kinda stuff and run with it

The biggest question i have is, what is a 33yr old doing with an 18 year old, i realize its nothing illegal, but come on

[scamperdog]

I heard on Mojo 730 that he has resigned from the giants.

[ynot]

Originally Posted by Stay-Puft
I think you let the investigation take it's course before any decisions are made. Let them get all the facts together to make a correct course of action. This will affect the rest of his life.

Personally, I would have liked to see them print what the court documents say happened, rather that hear it from the alleged victim. Newspapers should be printing fact or legal documents, not testimony. Testimony is something for the judicial system.

I really agree with you. The media make him appear guilty in this story. For all the people that read that article, it will be her testimony that sticks in people's minds. Chances are that the number of people reading this initial story will be much higher than the number that actually follow this story to the end.

Print the facts as they are and leave "he said, she said" out of it. This is a person's life and reputation at stake. If he's guilty than let the courts decide and print the facts after the court case.

[langdak]

I heard on Mojo 730 that he has resigned from the giants.

I beleive that you are right.

I dont have an official source that states his departure, but he is no longer listed with the coaches on the Giants webpage.

Edit*** There is an article in The Province newspaper today, but i dont have an online subscription to post the article.

[Beaner]

I heard on Mojo 730 that he has resigned from the giants.

Probably the right decision to make at this point and time.

[J23]

The biggest question i have is, what is a 33yr old doing with an 18 year old, i realize its nothing illegal, but come on

That's exactly what I was thinking too... :skeptical