All five players charged in the Hockey Canada sexual assault case have been acquitted after an Ontario judge determined the allegations made against them weren’t credible enough.
Superior Court Justice Maria Carrocia ruled Thursday the prosecution failed to prove the allegations beyond a reasonable doubt … clearing all five men — including NHLers Carter Hart, Michael McLeod, Dillon Dubé, Alex Formenton and Cal Foote — of sexual assault charges related to a 2018 incident in a London, Ontario hotel room.
McLeod, who faced an additional count of being a party to sexual assault, was acquitted of that charge as well.
The case stemmed from a June 2018 Hockey Canada Foundation gala, after which a woman — identified in court as “E.M.” — alleged she was intoxicated and sexually assaulted by multiple members of the 2018 Canadian World Juniors team.
The original investigation conducted by both London police and Hockey Canada was closed in 2019 with no charges being issued … but was revived in 2022 after E.M. sued Hockey Canada, which ended in a settlement for an undisclosed sum.
The claim eventually went public and garnered massive attention … and the London police subsequently reopened their investigation.
The trial, which began in April, faced two mistrials before eventually shifting to a judge-only format.
Video recordings of the complainant after the encounter, to which the defendants argued showed her voluntary consent in the acts, proved to be central to the defense, and Justice Carrocia ultimately found the accuser’s testimony was “neither credible nor reliable.”
