All five players of the gold medal-winning 2018 Canadian world junior hockey team who were accused of sexually assaulting a woman in a hotel room have been acquitted of all charges in a trial that has shaken the Canadian hockey world.
“The accused are free to go,” Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia said Thursday in a London, Ont., courtroom, about 120 miles southwest of Toronto, after finding Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dube and Cal Foote not guilty.
The five hockey players, four of whom played for NHL clubs when charged in 2024, pleaded not guilty to allegations of sexually assaulting a woman, known as E.M. in court documents, in a London hotel room in June 2018 following a Hockey Canada fundraising event.
The London Police Service had been contacted the following morning after the alleged assault and closed the case without charges in February 2019.
The allegations became public in May 2022 when it was first reported that E.M. had, a month prior, filed a $2.56 million lawsuit against Hockey Canada over the alleged assault.
The lawsuit alleged E.M. was supplied with alcohol by one of the players at a downtown London bar. She then went back to the player’s hotel room where they engaged in sexual acts, after which the player allegedly invited the other men into the room, which she did not consent to.
Hockey Canada reached a settlement with E.M., but public anger and media attention prompted the London Police Service to announce a review of its initial investigation, resulting in the charges against the five athletes, who were then suspended from their NHL teams and surrendered to the authorities.
Carroccia said that she largely did not find E.M.’s testimony credible or reliable and that she sided with the accused’s version of the night that saw her as the sexual aggressor.
She also said there were discrepancies in what E.M. told police in 2018 and Hockey Canada investigators in 2022.
Karen Bellehumeur, lawyer for E.M., said her client was “very disappointed with the verdict and very disappointed with her honor’s assessment of her honesty and reliability.”
“She’s really never experienced not being believed like this before,” Bellehumeur said during a press conference outside the courthouse.
She said E.M.’s purpose in testifying was “to stand up for herself and for others who have had similar experiences. She felt the sexual violence she experienced should not be concealed. She felt there needed to be accountability.”
Following the verdict, the NHL issued a statement saying the five players are ineligible to play in the league amid a review of the judge’s findings, stating the allegations were disturbing even if not criminal.
The National Hockey League Players’ Association also released a statement saying the five players should have “the opportunity to return to work.”
“The NHL’s declaration that the players are ‘ineligible’ to play pending its further analysis of the court’s findings is inconsistent with the discipline procedures set forth in the CBA,” the union said, referring to Collective Bargaining Agreement between the players and the league.
