More than a month after the case was closed, 7 Eyewitness News is getting a look at some of the photographic evidence that investigators considered in the Patrick Kane rape investigation.
The case ended with the Erie County District Attorney Frank Sedita deciding not to press charges.
RELATED | See all of the pictures that were obtained through a Freedom of Information request
Some of the pictures, taken by the Hamburg Police Department, include images of bruises on the body of Kane’s accuser as well as images from inside Kane’s home.
In total, 19 pictures were released by the DA’s office through a Freedom of Information request filed just after the DA announced his decision.
It was back in August, when Kane’s 21-year-old accuser told police Kane raped her on his bed. The two had met earlier that night at a local bar.
The photos are part of what prosecutors called an “exhaustive investigation,” the result of which was favorable for Kane. After nearly three months of investigating, Sedita announced he would not press charges.
Sedita detailed investigators’ findings citing “inconsistencies” in the accuser’s story. He released a statement which read in part:
“The DNA results lend no corroboration whatsoever to the complainant's claim of penetration, a required element of proof for a rape charge.”
“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.”
But just weeks before Kane was publicly cleared, the case against him publicly fell apart.
Sedita said the mother of the accuser lied to her daughter’s attorney when she claimed an evidence bag mysteriously appeared at her home and that it once contained the rape kit used in the case.
Shortly after, Kane’s accuser told the DA she no longer wished to go forward with criminal prosecution.
On November 5, the Sedita announced the investigation was complete and Kane was in the clear.
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