Former members of Canada’s 2018 world junior hockey team, from left to right: Alex Formenton, Cal Foote, Michael McLeod, Dillon Dubé and Carter Hart arrive for court in April.Nicole Osborne/The Associated Press
Five members of Canada’s 2018 world junior hockey team have been found not guilty of sexually assaulting a woman in a hotel room after a Hockey Canada gala.
Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dubé and Cal Foote were acquitted of all charges by Justice Maria Carroccia on Thursday.
Each had been charged with sexual assault, while Mr. McLeod faced a second offence of being a party to a sexual assault, for which he was also acquitted. The men had pleaded not guilty.
Justice Carroccia told a packed London, Ont., courtroom that prosecutors had not proven their case and the testimony of the complainant, known as E.M. due to a publication ban on her identity, was not reliable.
“Much has been made in this case about the concept of consent. This case, on its facts, does not raise issues of the reformulation of the legal concept of consent,” the judge said.
“In this case, I have found actual consent not vitiated by fear. I do not find the evidence of E.M. to be either credible or reliable. In my lengthy reasons set out below, I will explain why I reached these conclusions.”
She added: “Having found that I cannot rely upon the evidence of E.M. and then considering the evidence in this trial as a whole, I conclude that the Crown cannot meet its onus on any of the counts before me.”
As the judge spoke, members of the players’ families broke down in tears.
Her decision, more than seven years after the allegations were reported to police, marks the end of a contentious and often emotionally charged proceeding that was plagued with delays, a mistrial, two jury dismissals and a dramatic transition to a judge-alone trial.
It’s a case that has captivated the country, putting Canada’s beloved game under a microscope and triggering discussions at kitchen tables across the country about consent, alcohol and the criminal justice system’s capacity to handle these cases.
The trial of Mr. McLeod, Mr. Hart, Mr. Formenton, Mr. Dubé and Mr. Foote began in late April and ran for eight weeks until closing arguments wrapped up on June 13.
The case centred on what occurred in the early hours of June 19, 2018, hours after a Hockey Canada gala in London where the junior team’s gold-medal win at the 2018 world championships was honoured.
E.M. made the complaint to London police at the time, but the investigation was closed without charges in February, 2019. Three years later, TSN revealed that Hockey Canada – the sport’s national governing body – had quietly settled a lawsuit with E.M. for an undisclosed sum, without the players’ knowledge.
The story sparked national outrage and triggered parliamentary hearings and high-profile resignations within Hockey Canada. It was amidst this public uproar that the London Police Service decided to reopen the case. New evidence came to light, including the existence of a group chat between players who had been inside the room, in which they discuss the incident – and what they should say about it – after the fact.
The players were arrested in early 2024.
London police Chief Thai Truong at a press conference in February, 2024, after charges were announced against the five hockey players.CARLOS OSORIO/Reuters
At the time, each was playing professional hockey. Mr. Dubé was a member of the Calgary Flames, Mr. Hart was playing with the Philadelphia Flyers, and Mr. McLeod and Mr. Foote were members of the New Jersey Devils. Mr. Formenton, who had previously played for the Ottawa Senators, was playing for the Swiss club, HC Ambri-Piotta.
The men denied the allegations.
During the eight-week trial, court heard two competing versions of events.
The Crown opened its case with a warning to the then jury that at times, it may difficult to understand the actions of the complainant.
“This case is not about whether [E.M.] said ‘no’ or removed herself from an unwelcome situation when she had the opportunity. This case is about whether [E.M.] voluntarily agreed to engage in each and every sexual act that took place, at the time that it happened,” Crown attorney Heather Donkers said.
During her nine days on the stand – seven of which were spent under sometimes gruelling cross-examination by five different defence teams – E.M. told the court that on the night of June 18, 2018, she and some new coworkers decided to go out in downtown London. They landed at a popular bar called Jack’s, which is where she met some of the junior players, who were in town for the Hockey Canada gala. E.M. and Mr. McLeod ended up connecting and after a night of drinking and dancing, they left to go to his hotel – the nearby Delta Armouries – where they had consensual sex.
In E.M.’s telling, when they finished, she saw Mr. McLeod on his phone. Then he disappeared for a bit. Players started to enter the room. E.M. said she was “shocked” by their arrival. She became “scared and confused.” She alleges the players told her to get on the floor and then ordered her to perform various sex acts.
Court was shown a screenshot of a text message Mr. McLeod sent to the team’s group chat, inviting them to the hotel room for a threesome. Court heard evidence that Mr. McLeod also contacted specific players to come to the room for sexual activity.
“I remember them making comments about putting golf balls in me, in my vagina, and asking if I could take the whole club, fit the whole golf club in me,” E.M. said. She told the court her mind and body separated and she went into “autopilot.” She testified that the players were “encouraging each other” and at times seemed to be making fun of her.
While in the room, the Crown alleged that E.M performed oral sex on Mr. Hart, Mr. Dubé, Mr. McLeod and Mr. Formenton. Court heard that Mr. Formenton and Mr. McLeod had vaginal intercourse with E.M. and that Mr. Dubé slapped her on the buttocks during the alleged assault. E.M. also testified that Mr. Foote performed the splits over top of her, grazing his genitals against her face.
At two points, Mr. McLeod filmed short videos of E.M., in which she can be seen saying things such as “it was all consensual” and that she “enjoyed it.” E.M. testified that she doesn’t remember the videos being filmed, but that she would only have been saying what she felt they wanted to hear.
Reporter Robyn Doolittle and Standards Editor Sandra E. Martin discuss the issue of consent, particularly a video recorded by one of the accused.
The Globe and Mail
The defence put forward a different narrative.
Mr. McLeod’s lawyer, David Humphrey, posited that it was E.M. who had urged his client to invite his teammates back to the hotel for a “wild night.” E.M. responded, “that doesn’t sound like something that would come out of my mouth,” however she conceded she had significant memory gaps from the night and was very drunk.
Under cross examination from Megan Savard, who was representing Mr. Hart, E.M. accepted that it was possible she had adopted the persona of a “porn star” at times in order to get through the night.
During the trial, four other members of the 2018 world junior team were called as witnesses. These players – who included Tyler Steenbergen and Brett Howden – spent time in the hotel room on the night in question, but are not accused of wrongdoing.
Both men testified that E.M. was asking players to engage in sex acts. Mr. Steenbergen also testified that he saw Mr. Dubé slap E.M.’s buttocks: “It wasn’t hard, but it didn’t seem soft either.” Mr. Howden – who previously told a Hockey Canada investigator that he recalled hearing E.M. “weeping” in the hotel room – told the court that he struggled to remember key details from the night, including whether E.M. was crying. However, he did recall she was “begging” his then-teammates to engage in sexual activity.
Carter Hart, Justice Maria Carroccia, defence lawyer David Humphrey and Michael McLeod in a courtroom sketch.Alexandra Newbould/The Canadian Press
Of the five accused players, only Mr. Hart testified. He told the court that at the time, he was 19 years old and single and believed E.M. had been an excited participant. In his telling, E.M. – who was 20 at the time – was repeatedly asking players to have sex with her.
Mr. Hart told the court: “I remember guys just kind of looking at each other like, ‘Is this real?’”
While the other accused players did not testify, some spoke to police – the now retired detective, Stephen Newton – during the initial investigation and those interviewed were played in court.
During Mr. McLeod’s interview, the officer asked him if players had been texting each other about a girl in his room. The player replied “no,” although court was shown evidence to the contrary.
A day after the alleged assault, after E.M.’s family made contact with police, court heard that Mr. McLeod found her on Instagram and they began texting. He demanded that she make the police investigation “go away.”
Mr. McLeod wrote: “You said you were having fun.”
E.M. replied: “I was really drunk, didn’t feel good about it at all after. But I’m not trying to get anyone in trouble.”
“I was okay with going home with you, it was everyone else afterwards that I wasn’t expecting,” she said. “I just felt like I was being made fun of and taken advantage of.”
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