LONDON, Ontario – The London Police Service cited the discovery of new evidence to reopen an investigation into an alleged sexual assault involving five players from Canada's 2018 world junior hockey team.
Chief Thai Truong and Detective Sgt. Katherine Dann of the LPS Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Section met with the media Monday to provide details on the status of the case after charges were formally filed nearly six years after the original complaint in June of 2018.
Truong confirmed that Carter Hart of Philadelphia, Dillon Dube of Calgary, Cal Foote and Michael McLeod of New Jersey, and former Ottawa senator Alex Formenton (who recently played in Switzerland) turned themselves in to London police over the past week to be accused of sexual assault. Hart, Dube, Foote and Formenton were each charged with one count of sexual assault, and McLeod faced a second charge of “being a party to the crime.”
In his opening remarks, Truong said there were “insufficient grounds” after the first investigation to file charges in the case, which was closed in February 2019. He then apologized to the woman who filed the original complaint because “it took so long get to this point” and said he had cooperated fully with the police from the beginning of their investigations.
“I want to extend on behalf of the London Police Service my sincere apologies to the victim and her family for the time it has taken to get to this point,” Truong said.
“This shouldn't take so long. It shouldn't take us years and years to get to today's result,” he added. “But I can assure you that I have confidence, confidence that this will not happen again.”
Neither Truong nor Dann led the first investigation, but Dann was asked to launch a new investigation in July 2022.
“When reviewing the [initial] “When the case was reopened in 2022, our team explored investigative opportunities in addition to the [original] team research. “Those leads were followed up, additional witnesses were spoken to, and we gathered more evidence.”
Dann also read a statement from the women's representatives, stating that “It takes an incredible amount of courage for any survivor of sexual assault to come forward to the police and participate in the criminal justice system. That is certainly true for EM. However, she remains committed.” “To carry out this process. We simply ask that the media and others respect her privacy and her dignity as this matter moves through the judicial process.”
The woman has been identified only as EM in court documents.
Truong said London police were encouraged to re-explore the case, in part based on the local community providing those new leads. He did not answer whether the newly found evidence was available to investigators in 2018 or if it was completely new.
“This is one investigation, not two,” Truong said, “with evidence collected in 2018 and 2019 used in combination with newly gathered evidence to form reasonable probable cause to charge these five individuals with sexual assault.”
Truong declined to explain why it took six years for London police to bring these charges.
“Why it took so long will be part of the process,” Truong said.
The alleged sexual assault took place on June 18, 2018, after a Hockey Canada banquet in London featuring players from Canada's gold medal-winning world junior hockey team. Both Hockey Canada, the sport's national governing body, and London police were informed of the alleged incident when it occurred, and both entities launched investigations. Hockey Canada closed its investigation in September 2020.
The woman subsequently filed a $3.55 million lawsuit in April 2022 against Hockey Canada and eight players she said were involved; Hockey Canada quickly reached an out-of-court settlement with the woman, the details of which were never made public.
In her court file, the victim made reference to having been allegedly attacked by eight people. Only five people have been charged and there is no indication that more charges will be filed.
“We have proposed changes for all parties for which we have reasonable grounds,” Dann said. “We had different levels of participation [in speaking with other members of the 2018 world junior team]but I will not give details about who cooperated.”
Dann clarified that McLeod faces a second charge related to the behavior of another person involved in the alleged assault. He also said there has been no contact between his department and the NHL in recent months.
Both Truong and Dann repeatedly assured the public that they would provide more answers about the case once court proceedings were completed.
The assault case has been adjourned until April 30 following a video conference on Monday with a justice of the peace and lawyers representing the defendants. None of the players were present at Monday's meeting, where no charges were read and no statements were made.
Lawyers for each of the defendants released prior statements indicating their clients would defend themselves against the allegations.
During Monday's hearing, prosecutors obtained an order protecting the identity of the woman and two witnesses in the case. Deputy Crown attorney Heather Donkers also told lawyers they would receive “substantial disclosure” from London police in the coming days.
The NHL did not learn of the alleged incident until May 2022 and subsequently conducted its own investigation into the matter. League commissioner Gary Bettman told reporters Friday that the NHL spoke to all of the players on the 2018 world junior team as part of its job, but the woman involved in the case declined to speak to them. Bettman said the NHL will not release its findings until criminal court proceedings are complete.
The five accused players were absent from their respective teams last month after London police ordered their surrender. They, along with all 22 members of Canada's 2018 team, were suspended from Hockey Canada activities on March 23, 2023. That ban will remain in effect until Hockey Canada's investigation into the alleged sexual assault is completed. The findings are currently under appeal.
The Devils, Flyers and Flames will receive cap relief for their respective players, an NHL source told ESPN's Greg Wyshynski on Monday. Bettman said Dube, Foote, Hart and McLeod are still being paid while away from their teams and did not anticipate that they would be suspended without pay or that their contracts would be terminated before the end of the season, when all four become free agents. restricted.
