Former members of Canada’s 2018 world junior hockey team, from left to right, Michael McLeod, Cal Foote, Dillon Dube, Alex Formenton and Carter Hart leave the courthouse in London, Ontario on Thursday.Geoff Robins/Sammy Kogan/The Globe and Mail
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 on Thursday by Justice Maria Carroccia, who concluded that the complainant, known publicly only as E.M., was not a credible witness and had consented to sexual activity. Justice Carroccia said the Crown had failed to prove the charges against any of the players.
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 sexual assault. Advocates for sexual assault survivors decried the ruling as a failure of the system.
Justice Carroccia told a packed London, Ont., courtroom that she did not believe E.M.’s version of what happened. She rejected the Crown’s theory that the woman was too drunk and scared to leave.
“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.”
Each player had been charged with sexual assault, while Mr. McLeod faced a second offence of being a party to a sexual assault. They all pleaded not guilty.
As the judge spoke, members of the players’ families broke down in tears.
London police Chief Thai Truong at a press conference in February, 2024, after charges were announced against the five hockey players.CARLOS OSORIO/Reuters
Outside court, the players’ lawyers said their clients had been vindicated.
“The damage to Mr. McLeod’s reputation and his career has been significant, but today’s decision begins to restore what was very unfairly taken away from him,” said David Humphrey, who represents Mr. McLeod.
Daniel Brown, lawyer for Mr. Formenton, said: “Alex’s face has appeared on millions of screens and newspaper pages, and there could be little doubt that an untold number of people out there believed he was guilty simply because he was accused of a crime long before any evidence was presented in court.”
Speaking outside the courthouse, E.M.’s lawyer, Karen Bellehumeur, said that “the justice system must do better.”
“[E.M.] felt that the sexual violence she experienced should not be concealed, she felt there needed to be accountability, but her choice to testify came at a great personal cost,” Ms. Bellehumeur said.
Nearby, a woman held a sign that read, “thank you E.M. for your courage.”
Crown attorney Meaghan Cunningham told reporters that prosecutors will review the decision during the appeal period but otherwise would not comment on the ruling. The Crown has 30 days to decide whether to appeal.
Ms. Cunningham added that the legal team has received dozens of messages from people across Canada asking them to pass on messages of thanks and support for E.M.
Hilla Kerner, a spokeswoman for the Vancouver Rape Relief and Women’s Shelter, condemned the verdict.
“Women following the trial understand exactly E.M.’s experience,” she said. “There is no voluntary agreement when there is a group of men in the room. The verdict sends a devastating message to women victims of rape.”
She said the case could be a “wake-up call” for the criminal justice system. “We have such good sexual assault laws, but they’re rendered meaningless when it comes to applying them in reality.”
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.
Hockey Canada suspended the players shortly after the allegations became public and the organization said Thursday that the suspension remains in effect during the appeal period.
The revelation about the lawsuit sparked national outrage and triggered parliamentary hearings and high-profile resignations within Hockey Canada. It was amid 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.
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
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.
They all took leaves from their respective teams before surrendering to police.
During the eight-week trial, court heard two competing versions of events.
During her nine days on the stand – seven of which were spent under 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.
The Crown alleged that E.M performed oral sex on Mr. Hart, Mr. Dubé, Mr. McLeod and Mr. Formenton in the room. 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.
Carter Hart, Justice Maria Carroccia, defence lawyer David Humphrey and Michael McLeod in a courtroom sketch.Alexandra Newbould/The Canadian Press
The defence put forward a different narrative.
Mr. McLeod’s lawyer, Mr. 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.
While Justice Carroccia said in her ruling that the consent videos were not evidence that E.M. had consented, the judge also said the videos led her to believe that the woman had exaggerated how intoxicated she was.
“She was speaking normally, she was smiling and did not appear to be upset or in distress. She did not appear to be intoxicated,” Justice Carroccia said.
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?’”
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While the other accused players did not testify, some spoke to police – the now-retired detective Stephen Newton – during the initial investigation. Those interviews 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.”