Editor\u2019s note: This article discusses an alleged sexual assault.\u00a0<\/p>\n
All five players from Team Canada\u2019s 2018 World Juniors roster on trial were found not guilty of sexual assault in a high-profile trial that saw its verdict delivered on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The eight-week-long trial stems from a June 2018 incident in a London, Ont., hotel following a celebration for Team Canada\u2019s World Juniors gold medal win earlier that year.<\/p>\n
Five former NHL players \u2014 Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dube, and Callan Foote \u2014 were the key focus of the trial, which involved a woman known only as \u201cE.M.,\u201d whom the players had met earlier that day. All five players pleaded not guilty to sexual assault, while McLeod had a separate charge of being a party to the offence of sexual assault that he was also acquitted of after pleading not guilty.<\/p>\n
Ontario Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia relayed the verdict.<\/p>\n
Carroccia did not find the complainant\u2019s evidence to be \u201ccredible or reliable,\u201d as per Jacques Gallant, a Toronto Star reporter<\/a>.<\/p>\n While there was no contention that a group sex act took place involving E.M and the named players, Carroccia repeated in her verdict that she could not find convincing evidence that\u00a0 E.M. was not a consenting party throughout the evening.<\/p>\n \u201cIn this case, I find E.M. was by her words expressing her willingness to engage in sexual activity,\u201d Carroccia said in particular about having intercourse with Formenton, the second player acquitted, per Gallant.<\/p>\n All five players have been out of the NHL since midway through the 2023-24 season. McLeod and Dube were in the Russia-based KHL this past year, while Foote played in Slovakia.<\/p>\n Neither Hart nor Formenton played competitive hockey this past season, while the latter has reportedly moved on to a career in construction.<\/p>\n More to come\u2026<\/p>\n