Hockey Canada sex assault trial: all 5 players not guilty in case that shook nation
The judge cited insufficient proof and lack of credibility in the allegations by the complainant about the 2018 hotel room encounter
An Ontario judge acquitted five former members of Canada’s world junior hockey team on Thursday in their sexual assault case, saying the complainant’s allegations lacked the credibility needed to justify the charges.
Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia said prosecutors could not meet the onus of proof for the charges against Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dube and Callan Foote.
Carroccia said the complainant had a “tendency to blame others” for inconsistencies in her story, including police officers and her lawyers in the civil lawsuit.
She also said the woman went to “great lengths” to point out that she was really drunk throughout the course of the night, but that is not supported by surveillance video from a bar and hotel that night, and the testimony of others.
All five players had pleaded not guilty to sexual assault in the encounter that took place in a London, Ontario, hotel room in the early hours of June 19, 2018. McLeod was also acquitted – and pleaded not guilty – to a separate count of being a party to the offence, an unusual application of a charge that is more typically seen in murder cases.
The players, who are now between the ages of 25 and 27, were in London at the time for a gala and golf tournament marking their championship victory.