Hockey Canada and the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) have settled out of court a sexual assault case involving eight former players, including members of Canada’s gold-medal team at the 2018 World Junior Hockey Championship.
Posted at 6:54 p.m.
A woman who alleged she was sexually assaulted by the eight players has finally decided to drop the charges, according to TSN’s Rick Westhead.
The now 24-year-old complainant claimed she was repeatedly assaulted on June 19, 2018 in London while intoxicated. The incidents reportedly occurred at a hotel after an event hosted by the Hockey Canada Foundation. The woman reportedly met one of the players at Jack’s Yard bar, who then introduced her to some of his teammates. They would have paid several drinks to the victim.
The woman then had non-consensual sex with the first defendant at the Delta London Armories hotel. The player would then have invited his teammates and they would have ordered the woman to caress their genitals. They then took part in various sexual practices that went against the integrity of the victim.
The players would have manipulated, threatened, intimidated him in addition to asking him not to reveal anything to the police, to avoid trouble.
The woman asked the court for compensation of $3.55 million and the allegations against the players could never be proven. She never wanted to identify the players involved.
According to her, Hockey Canada had been made aware of the incidents, but had not seen fit to follow up on the situation. However, Esther Madziya, spokesperson for Hockey Canada, indicates that the federation had informed the police forces of London, since they had been made aware of the situation.
The lawsuit states that Hockey Canada “ignored or failed to reasonably address the abuse. »
The NHL reacts
In a press release, the National Hockey League said it was made aware of the situation on Tuesday. The statement testifies to behavior “both heinous and reprehensible. »
“We will endeavor to determine the underlying facts and to the extent that it may involve players playing in the NHL today, we will determine what actions would be appropriate. »