Five professional hockey players appeared this Monday morning in court in London, Ontario, to answer charges of sexual assault.
Dillon Dube, Cal Foote, Alex Formenton, Carter Hart and Michael McLeod, all part of the Canadian team that won gold at the 2018 World Junior Championship, are accused of assaulting a young woman during the summer 2018, while she was intoxicated. The affair, revealed to the public in the spring of 2022, caused a scandal in the country and plunged Hockey Canada into embarrassment for its management of the case.
PHOTO MATT SLOCUM, NOAH K. MURRAY, PAUL SANCYA, COREY SIPKIN, CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVES
The five accused from left to right: Alex Formenton, Cal Foote, Michael McLeod, Dillon Dube and Carter Hart
In addition to the assault charge against each of the suspects, McLeod is also accused of “participating in an offense.”
For their appearance on Monday, none of the five defendants showed up at the London courthouse – they had already gone to the police in recent days. Their lawyers spoke with the court via video conference. As expected, their clients all pleaded not guilty.
According to local media, the judge imposed a publication ban on the identity of the victim and that of two key witnesses. Journalist Rick Westhead of TSN wrote on the London police. All parties will return to court on April 30.
The police force opened an initial investigation after the alleged assault in 2018, but closed the file in the following months. The investigation was reopened in 2022 after the alleged victim, identified to date by the initials E. M., filed a civil suit against ex-players of the Canadian Hockey League and Hockey Canada. The federation had reached an agreement out of court with EM, in exchange for a sum of money and a confidentiality agreement. This agreement does not, however, restrict the filing of criminal charges.
At 2 p.m. this Monday, London Police will provide an update on their investigation.
Four of the five defendants – Hart (Philadelphia Flyers), Dube (Calgary Flames), Foote and McLeod (New Jersey Devils) – played in the NHL until recently. As for Formenton, his rights belong to the Ottawa Senators, but no contract binds him to the team since July 2022. He has since played with HC Ambri-Piotta, in Switzerland. All the players received a leave of absence from their respective clubs a few days ago until further notice.
Last week, on the sidelines of the All-Star Game presentation in Toronto, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said he would be “surprised” if the accused played again this season. The four who are currently under contract will become restricted free agents next summer: each organization will then have the choice of offering them a new agreement, retaining their rights without a contract or cutting ties with them by not depositing them. qualifying offer. The commissioner also has the power to suspend them or terminate their contracts immediately because of the accusations against them, but Mr. Bettman has not suggested so far that he would take advantage of this option. .
With The Canadian Press