Ex-Hockey Canada Players ‘Not Guilty’ of Sexual Assault

All five former members of Canada’s 2018 national junior hockey team who were on trial for a sexual assault that allegedly took place in a team hotel have been found not guilty, a judge decided herself Thursday, July 24.

The Athletic reported that roughly two months after Ontario Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia dismissed the jury overseeing the case and placed herself in control of the outcome, the judge decided to find all five former players — Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dube and Callan Foote — not guilty of sexually assaulting a woman they met at a London, Ontario, hotel room on June 19, 2018 while in town celebrating the team’s recent world championship.

The ruling came more than seven years after the alleged assault took place, in which a then-20-year-old woman – referred to publicly as E.M. in an effort to protect her identity – accused McLeod of inviting her up to a hotel room where she later said she was assaulted by somewhere between eight and 10 men she didn’t know, according to The Athletic, which has closely reported on the case.

Justice Carroccia said she came to find the defendants “not guilty” after deciding for herself that E.M.’s evidence was not “credible or reliable.”

“Having found that I cannot rely upon the evidence of E.M. and then considering the evidence in this trial as a whole, I conclude that the Crown cannot meet its onus on any of the counts before me,” Carroccia said, according to The Athletic.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) reported that McLeod faced two charges – one for alleged sexual assault and another for allegedly being party to sexual assault – because he was alleged to have invited the other players to the room where the alleged assault was said to have taken place.

E.M. had alleged she was pressured to have oral sex with McLeod, Hart and Dubé, while she also alleged she was pressured into having vaginal sex with Formenton, according to The Athletic. She further alleged that Foote slapped her on the buttocks and did the splits over her while she laid on the ground, grazing his genitals across her face.

In some instances, Carroccia didn’t question whether the actions took place but rather made her ruling based on whether there was clear consent or not, according to the CBC.

Carroccia had dismissed the jury presiding over the case after a juror reportedly wrote a note to the judge claiming the players’ defense attorneys appeared to “whisper to each other” and “laugh” as if they were discussing the juror’s “appearance,” CBC previously reported.

The rest of the jurors considered the behavior “unprofessional and unacceptable,” according to the CBC, resulting in Carroccia to dismiss the jury over the alleged spat, noting that the juror’s opinions of the defense attorneys could impact their verdict.

Prior to dismissing the jury, CBC reported that Carroccia had declared a mistrial in the case after a juror told the judge they were approached by a defense attorney at lunch who commented on their head-nodding during the prosecutor’s opening statement. Hilary Dudding, the players’ defense attorney involved in both alleged instances with the jury members, reportedly denied each accusation.

ESPN reported that E.M. provided a harrowing testimony in May in which she accused the players taking advantage of her and assaulting her in the hotel room. “I made the choice to dance with them and drink at the bar,” the woman told the courtroom. “I did not make the choice to have them do what they did back at the hotel.”

E.M. told the courtroom she felt the only “safe” option for her was to go along with what the men were allegedly doing to her in the hotel room, adding that she was naked, drunk and scared during the alleged assault.

The case has been widely followed in Canada and across the sports world. Supporters of both E.M. and the players accused of the sexual assault gathered outside the courtroom Thursday. 

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The players, who now range between the ages of 25 and 28 years old, walked out of the courthouse one-by-one after receiving their rulings, according to reports. The Athletic reported that some family members of the players shouted in support as they walked out. “Woo! Let’s get the hell out of here,” a McLeod family member reportedly yelled to him as he left the courthouse.

Protestors for E.M. also came out Thursday to offer their support. Photos published by the CBC showed a group of E.M. supporters – both men and women, young and old – holding signs that read: “We believe her.”

The Athletic shared photos of chalk drawings in support of E.M. and other messages left outside the courthouse thanking her for speaking out over the alleged sexual assault.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.