Ben Johnson enters a Windsor courthouse. Image via Twitter
Former New Jersey Devils prospect Ben Johnson received a three-year prison sentence in Windsor, Ontario, on Tuesday after being convicted of sexual assault.Johnson, who was found guilty last month of raping a 16-year-old girl in the washroom stall of a downtown Windsor bar in 2013, will be listed on Canada's sex offender registry for 20 years and is required to provide a DNA sample. He was ordered to pay a $250 fine which will go toward a victims fund, and will be prohibited from possessing any weapons or ammunition for 10 years, effective immediately.Johnson, 22, was facing a maximum term of 10 years behind bars. The crown was seeking a sentence of up to four years in prison, while Johnson's defence team asked for a lenient punishment, arguing that he was not a risk to re-offend. He had been free on bail throughout the legal proceedings.Johnson was 18 years old and a member of the Ontario Hockey League's Windsor Spitfires at the time of the offence. The girl was "near comatose," when she was sexually assaulted, according to Windsor Superior Court Judge Kirk Munroe.This marked the second time Johnson has gone to trial for sexual assault. He was acquitted last November after allegedly "forcing a woman's hand onto his exposed penis," at a different Windsor bar in 2013, according to the Windsor Star.Johnson played three seasons in the OHL with Windsor before splitting parts of the last three years in the ECHL and AHL. The Devils, who selected Johnson in the third round of the 2012 NHL entry draft, released him shortly after his conviction.The Calumet, Michigan native intends to file an appeal.
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