Five former members of Canada’s 2018 world junior hockey team were acquitted of all charges Thursday in a sexual assault trial in London, Ontario.
Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia of the Ontario Court of Justice said she didn’t find the complainant’s evidence “credible or reliable.”
“I cannot rely upon the evidence of (the accuser) and then considering the evidence in this trial as a whole, I conclude that the Crown cannot meet its onus on any of the counts before me,” Carroccia said.
Carter Hart, Cal Foote, Dillon Dube, Alex Formenton and Michael McLeod were charged with sexual assault in connection with an incident in a London hotel in June 2018. McLeod also faced a second charge of being party to the offense. He was found not guilty of that as well.
The accuser alleged that she willingly accompanied McLeod to the hotel. She contended that McLeod invited his teammates to his room and then joined the players in an alleged sexual assault over several hours.
Carroccia cited videos filmed by McLeod in which the woman said that the events in the hotel room were “all consensual.” The judge also noted that she had consensual sex with at least one of the players previously that night.
“In this case, I have found actual consent not vitiated by fear,” Carroccia said.
The news Thursday comes after Carroccia previously declared a mistrial and dismissed two separate juries. Those decisions ultimately left the charges to be adjudicated by the judge.
Formenton is a former NHL forward currently playing in Switzerland, while the other four were active NHL players who had taken paid leaves of absences from their teams. Their respective teams parted ways with them in June 2024 by failing to give them qualifying offers, thus making them free agents.
McLeod, 27, played for the New Jersey Devils, while Hart, 26, was a No. 1 goaltender for the Philadelphia Flyers.
Dube, 27, played with the Calgary Flames and Foote, 26, played for three NHL teams, mostly recently the Devils.
–Field Level Media
