Judge finds five Canadian junior hockey players not guilty of sexual assault

Five junior hockey players from Canada's 2018 world junior hockey team have been found not guilty of sexual assault. The case has been dragging on for months in court as players Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dubé, and Cal Foote have asserted their innocence, claiming that a sexual encounter with a woman in June 2018 was consensual.

Justice Maria Carroccia of Ontario Superior Court agreed, saying the Crown had not proven their case, per The New York Times. The incident was reported by the alleged victim in 2018, and the case has seen a mistrial, two jury dismissals, and a transition from a jury to judge trial.

The incident in question occurred in June 2018 when the players engaged in sexual activity in a London, Ontario hotel room with a woman identified in court documents as E.M. The encounter at the Delta Armories Hotel lasted for several hours and occurred while the players were in London participating in a Hockey Canada event to celebrate their World Junior Championship victory. E.M. later said that she was sexually assaulted.

The judge determined that the evidence brought by the Crown and E.M. was not 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," she said.

The men would have been facing up to 10 years in prison if they were convicted. E.M. had previously taken a settlement with Hockey Canada, though the sporting organization did not tell the players about that settlement, or EM's civil suit that led to the settlement, at the time.

Attorney David Humphrey, who represents McLeod in the case, said the players would have contested any settlement had they been aware of it. The case, Humphrey said, was "shaped by a one-sided narrative from a civil lawsuit that went unchallenged, in large part because Hockey Canada settled the claim without first informing or consulting the players," the Times reported.

"The decision was made unilaterally, and the players were only told of the lawsuit and the settlement after the fact," he said. "Had they been consulted, they would have refused to settle, and they would have vigorously contested EM’s allegations." Judge Carroccia said in her ruling that she found "actual consent not vitiated by fear."

The incident began in June 2018 when E.M. and McLeod met at a bar and left together to pursue a sexual encounter at the hotel. The teammates were then invited to join in. E.M. claims that this was without her consent while McLeod and the others say that E.M. was an instigator of this activity.

The players said that she had encouraged McLeod to bring the others for a "wild night." Witnesses told the court that E.M. said players who would not engage in sexual activity with her were "pussies." That activity included oral and vaginal sex. Cellphone videos from the night in question show the players asking her if she consented and her saying she was "okay with this" and that "it was all consensual."

E.M. spoke to police after the fact, but that case was closed in February 2019 without charges filed. Hockey Canada later settled with E.M., and that lawsuit was made public in May 2022. The criminal investigation was reopened in January 2024. The Crown has 30 days to appeal the decision.

The players, four of whom played in the NHL prior to this incident, remain ineligible to play in the professional hockey league pending review.