London, Ont., police have reopened their investigation into a gang rape that allegedly occurred in 2018 after a Hockey Canada Foundation banquet.
Posted at 3:07 p.m.
The police force had initially conducted an eight-month investigation that concluded without charges in February 2019. On Thursday it was revealed that the investigation process would be reviewed and, as of Friday, Chief Steve Williams wrote in a statement that “additional investigative opportunities” appeared possible. In doing so, “the criminal investigation has been reopened in order to explore these possibilities”, writes the leader.
As this is now an ongoing investigation, police will not provide further comment until its conclusion.
In June 2018, after a drunken party at a bar in London, Ont., eight hockey players allegedly sexually assaulted a young woman in a hotel room. The identity of the suspects and the victim is still unknown to this day. The suspects were all players playing in Canadian junior hockey at the time, but not necessarily members of the national team.
The victim filed a civil lawsuit last April against Hockey Canada, the suspects and the Canadian Hockey League. Hockey Canada quickly reached an out-of-court deal and has since come under fire for its handling of the case. the Globe and Mail revealed in particular that the organization had regularly used, over the years, a special fund to compensate victims of sexual violence.
It is unknown at this point whether the victim will provide his testimony to the London police. In interview at The Pressearlier this week, experts confided that this testimony was almost essential for the charges to be ultimately filed.
The young woman has already indicated that she will participate in the new investigation recently entrusted to an external firm by Hockey Canada – a first independent, incomplete investigation had been deemed inconclusive in 2020. The NHL is also investigating this story, which involves players who play today in one or other of the 32 teams on the circuit.
Very discreet since the affair was revealed in broad daylight at the end of May, most of the players of the Canadian junior team of 2018 have multiplied, over the past few days, their outings on social networks in order to distance themselves from this matter.