London, Ont., police Chief Thai Truong issued an apology to the victim on Monday. Regarding the long six years it took to lay sexual assault charges against five players on Hockey Canada’s 2018 junior team.
“I want to extend on behalf of the London Police Service. My sincerest apology to the victim, to her family, for the amount of time that it has taken to reach this point,” Truong said.
The London Police Service carefully shared whatever details they could about the ongoing investigation stating they “cannot discuss details that are now part of the case before the courts.”
The press conference happened hours after lawyers representing the players attended a court hearing, which was adjourned until late April.
Truong confirmed the charges against five players of Hockey Canada’s 2018 junior team.
The five junior hockey players who were charged with sexual assault by London police are, 26-year-old Michael Mcleod, and 25-year-old Cal Foote from the New Jersey Devils, 25-year-old Carter Hart from the Philadelphia Flyers, and 25-year-old Dillion Dube from the Calgary Flames, and 24-year-old former NHL player Alex Formenton. Mcleod is facing a second charge of being a party to sexual assault.
Det. Sgt. Katherine Dann said, “The one charge he was laid with is in relation to his own actions. And the party to the offense charge is in relation to aiding someone else and committing the offense.”
London Police shared that newly found evidence made them reopen the investigation.
Truong said, “A comprehensive review was initiated over three years later on July 20 2022. This review involves re-examining initial investigative steps, gathering additional evidence and obtaining new information. As a result, we have found sufficient grounds to charge five adult males with sexual assault.”
The players have surrendered to the police and were released on “undertakings with their first court appearance,” Truong said.
The incident is alleged to have occurred in June 2018 after a Hockey Canada Gala in London, Ont. The woman, who goes by the initials E.M., told London Police that eight junior team players sexually assaulted her in a hotel room, as specified in court filings.
E.M. came forward a day after the incident to London police in 2018. London Police reopened the case in 2023.
Sgt. Dann said, “I would like to make it clear that the victim in this matter has fully participated in this investigation from the time it was initially reported to police until today. When the case was reopened in 2022, our team explored investigative opportunities in addition to the 2018 investigation.”
Dann said she can confirm that some of the evidence found was not available when the investigation concluded in 2019.
“This is one investigation, not two. The evidence that was collected in 2018 and 2019 was used in combination with newly gathered evidence to form reasonable and probable grounds to charge these five individuals with sexual assault,” she said.
In 2022, E.M. filed a lawsuit asking $3.5 million in damages from Hockey Canada, the unnamed players and the Canadian Hockey League. Documents show Hockey Canada settled the case for an undisclosed amount in 2022.
“What we’re looking at, is not you know, for us Hockey Canada, this is an investigation where there’s a victim of sexual assault,” Chief Troung said.
The NHL conducted its own investigation in 2022 and pledged to make those findings public. The league also said they won’t consider penalizing the players until after the case is officially concluded.
An NHL source told ESPN that Dube, Foote, Hart, and McLeod are all still being paid while away from their teams and doesn’t anticipate the players to be suspended without pay or have their contracts terminated before the end of the season, when all four become restricted free agents.
This is the first time police have laid charges against Hockey Canada players.