Ched Evans, the Welsh soccer player whose career was derailed by his conviction for raping a 19-year-old waitress in a hotel, and whose consistent protestations of innocence brought him both support and scorn, was found not guilty Friday after a retrial of the case.
The verdict was a vindication for Evans, 27, who has already restarted his playing career, at Chesterfield F.C. in English soccer’s third tier. The retrial followed the Court of Appeal’s decision in April to quash Evans’s initial conviction and refer the case to the Criminal Cases Review Commission.
Evans spent two and a half years in prison after he was convicted of rape in 2012 before he was released in November 2014.