A Canadian judge ruled Thursday that five former NHL players are not guilty of committing sexual assault in a London, Ontario hotel room in 2018.
Ontario Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia said in her decision that she “cannot rely upon the evidence” of the woman identified as E.M. who brought forth allegations of sexual assault by hockey players Dillon Dubé, Cal Foote, Alex Formenton, Carter Hart, and Michael McLeod. Carroccia, a former criminal defense attorney, said E.M.’s testimony was not “credible or reliable,” that she “found actual consent not vitiated by fear,” and the Crown “cannot meet its onus” on any of the charges.
The high profile trial centered around E.M’s claims that the players assaulted her following a Hockey Canada event celebrating their 2018 World Junior Championship. She said she met them at a bar and went back to their hotel to have consensual sex with McLeod, after which he invited his teammates into the room. E.M. testified during the eight-week trial this spring that the men forced her to commit sex acts, threatened her with golf clubs, slapped her buttocks, and made her record videos giving consent that she said she doesn’t remember filming.
Hockey Canada and London police opened and closed investigations without charges when E.M. initially came forward shortly after the alleged incident. But in 2022, she settled with Hockey Canada after she filed a $3.5 million suit, sparking public outcry. London police reopened its investigation, and authorities apologized to E.M. as they announced charges. Hockey Canada and the NHL have held off on their appeal process and investigation, respectively, while the charges were pending.
Each of the five players faced one charge of sexual assault. McLeod faced an additional charge of being party to the offense. Carroccia declared a mistrial during the first few days, and dismissed the jury a second time in mid-May, deciding to render the verdict herself. The trial included testimony from other former and current NHL players who were on the team or in the room during the incident.
Carroccia spent several hours Thursday announcing her decision, recapping parts of the case before eventually reaching her verdict. She explained that to convict the men she would’ve had to believe “beyond a reasonable doubt” that their actions with E.M. were not consensual and crossed into sexual assault, which she did not.
The verdict now signals the players can likely make a return to the NHL. The league conducted its own investigation, but said it would not release the findings while charges were pending. “We’re all going to have to see how that plays out and we will then be in a position to respond appropriately, which we will do,” commissioner Gary Bettman said last year. Hockey insiders have particularly suspected Hart, a goalkeeper, would be picked up following a not guilty verdict.
