Anticipated case is delayed
Former world junior players’ sexual assault hearing adjourned to April 30
The sexual assault case against five former members of Canada’s world junior hockey team made its first appearance in a southwestern Ontario court Monday and is set to return at the end of April.
Dillon Dubé, Cal Foote, Alex Formenton, Carter Hart and Michael McLeod were not present in the London, Ont., court and their lawyers appeared by video.
The players were charged with sexual assault late last month. A court document shows McLeod is facing an additional charge of sexual assault for “being a party to the offence.”
Lawyers for the players have said their clients will defend themselves against the allegations.
The charges relate to an alleged incident at a hotel in London in June 2018.
During a brief hearing Monday, prosecutors sought and obtained an order protecting the identity of the complainant, which is standard in sexual assault cases, as well as that of two witnesses.
Assistant Crown attorney Heather Donkers also said the players’ lawyers would receive “substantial disclosure” in the next few days. Disclosure is the evidence collected by the prosecution against the accused.
The case will be back in court April 30.
The police probe was initially closed without charges months after the alleged incident but investigators reopened it in 2022.
Hockey Canada and the National Hockey League, where four of the accused now play, also launched their own investigations. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said last week the league would wait until the criminal case has concluded before commenting. Hockey Canada has not issued an official statement on the charges. Dubé plays for the Calgary Flames, Hart for the Philadelphia Flyers and McLeod and Foote for the New Jersey Devils. Formenton previously played for the Ottawa Senators before joining a team in Switzerland. All have been permitted to go on indefinite leave.
Cases such as this one are part of a broader conversation about sports culture and masculinity, said Michael Kehler, a research professor of masculinities studies at the University of Calgary.
Sports culture has traditionally praised a certain type of masculinity focused on dominance, control and violence, he said.
“For a long time, you know, the messaging within sport culture has been, ‘This is what it means to be successful, this is what it means to get praise and to get promoted,’ ” he said.
“Sport associations need to change the message and they need to do this in a way that points out that we need to have greater transparency, we need to have greater honesty, and we need to create safer spaces for sport.”
Police chief apologizes
The police chief in London, Ont., is offering an apology to the woman at the centre of the sexual assault case.
Chief Thai Truong says he is extending his “sincerest apology” for the amount of time it has taken the case to reach this point.
The investigation was initially closed without charges in 2019 before it was reopened three years later.
London Det. Sgt. Katherine Dann says officers found new evidence that police say helped lead to the charges.