Four National Hockey League players – Carter Hart, Michael McLeod, Dillon Dube and Cal Foote – have been ordered to surrender to police in London, Ontario, to be charged with sexual assault in connection with an alleged incident occurred during a Hockey Canada event in June 2018, reports our colleague Rick Westhead of TSN which cites two sources close to the matter.
The players are expected to turn themselves in before London police hold a news conference Monday to inform the public in the high-profile case.
Lawyers for McLeod, Dube, Hart and Foote confirmed the sexual assault accusations.
THE Globe and Mail reported on January 24 that London police had ordered five members of Canada’s 2018 World Junior team to surrender to face charges of sexual assault. Former Ottawa Senators player Alex Formenton, who currently plays in Switzerland, presented himself to police on January 28 to be formally charged.
Late in the afternoon, Mike McLeod’s lawyer said his client had been charged by London police and that he intended to vigorously defend himself.
Gary Ellis, the former head of the Toronto Police Service’s sex crimes unit, told TSN in an interview that players would be photographed, fingerprinted and asked to sign an undertaking not to not have contact with the alleged victim.
The five players will be accused of sexually assaulting a woman at a London hotel on June 19, 2018, following a Hockey Canada Foundation gala and golf tournament.
The plaintiff, a woman referred to as EM in court documents, met some of the players at a downtown bar after the event. She alleged in a civil suit that she left the bar with a man and had consensual sex with him. This man then allegedly invited other players into his room, without EM’s consent, to have sex with her, she claimed.
None of the allegations made against the players have yet been proven.
London police initially investigated EM’s allegations before closing the case in February 2019 without laying charges because the lead detective did not believe there was enough evidence.
In May 2022, TSN reported that Hockey Canada had – without consulting the players involved in the alleged incident – quietly settled a $3.55 million lawsuit filed by EM against Hockey Canada, the Canadian Hockey League and eight unnamed players in connection with the alleged attack. The story gave rise to parliamentary hearings and a whirlwind of negative reactions in public opinion. The NHL and Hockey Canada commissioned investigations and London police announced in July 2022 that they would reopen their investigation.
In October 2022, London Police filed a 94-page document with the court seeking permission to seek various court orders. In the file, first reported by the Worlda London police officer wrote that he believed there were reasonable grounds to believe that five members of the 2018 World Junior team had committed sexual assault in connection with the hotel incident.
Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Hart is in his sixth NHL season and the final year of a three-year, $11.9 million contract.
Dube, a center for the Calgary Flames, is in his sixth NHL season and the second year of a three-year contract worth an average of $2.3 million.
McLeod, a center for the New Jersey Devils, is in his sixth season in the NHL. He signed a one-year contract worth $1.4 million in July 2023.
Foote, whose father is former NHL defenseman Adam Foote, played in four games for the Devils this season and also played in the American Hockey League. He signed a one-year contract worth $800,000 in August.
