Warning: coverage of the Hockey Canada trial includes details of alleged sexual assault that may be disturbing to readers.

Five former members of Canada’s 2018 world junior hockey team were found not guilty of sexual assault in a London, Ont., courtroom Thursday.

Former NHL players Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dube and Cal Foote are each acquitted of a sexual assault charge. McLeod was also found not guilty of a second charge as a party to the offense.

The presiding judge, Justice Maria Carroccia, delivered the verdicts and reasoning in a packed courtroom in front of each of the accused players, their defense teams and the Crown. Two overflow rooms were set up in the courthouse due to the international attention surrounding the case. Advocacy groups for sexual assault survivors from across Ontario held a rally outside the courthouse as people lined up to enter the building.

In her ruling, Carroccia said she did not find the evidence of the complainant credible or reliable. She said the Crown did not meet its burden to prove the men’s guilt on any of the counts beyond a reasonable doubt.

 “I have found actual consent, not vitiated by fear,” Carroccia said in her ruling.

The judge also said there is a high criminal standard of proof, and reasonable doubt is based on reason and common sense. The court must be satisfied based on all the evidence of the guilt of the accused beyond a reasonable doubt.

It's also not up to the judge and the court to examine the morality or propriety of the conduct of the people involved, Carroccia said.

The judge’s reasoning for the verdicts centered on not being satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that the sexual acts were non-consensual and that the complainant’s consent was “initiated by fear.”

Carroccia said multiple former team members testified or said in past police interviews that the woman in the room was chirping the men for not having sex with her and was asking for sex.

The judge also expressed concern with parts of E.M.’s testimony and her memory, including starting some sentences with “I feel” and occasionally saying it was “my truth” instead of “the truth.”

Carroccia said that E.M. testified that she was very drunk throughout the night. The judge said E.M. exaggerated her level of drunkenness because video evidence, including two consent videos taken from within the hotel room, did not show her having trouble walking or talking.

About Foote’s charge, Hart testified that his teammate was fully clothed and had consent before doing the splits over the complainant. The judge said the Crown did not prove there was contact with the complainant’s face or that the splits were sexual.

When it came to McLeod’s charge as a party to the offense, Carrocia could not render a guilty verdict with the evidence provided.

“I am not satisfied based on the evidence that Mr. McLeod invited men into Room 209 without the knowledge of E.M. for the purpose of committing a sexual assault,” Carrocia said. “Once inside the room, there is no evidence that he encouraged or assisted others to commit a sexual assault. Accordingly, I am not satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. McLeod was a party to the offense of sexual assault.” 

With her verdict provided, McLeod’s lawyer, David Humphrey, thanked Carroccia on behalf of the other counsel members, and in turn, Carroccia expressed her gratitude to the Crown and defense counsels.

The Crown can appeal the acquittals by filing a notice of appeal within 30 days. In Ontario, the Crown must show there was a significant error of law that had a substantial effect on the acquittal.

What Led Up To This Moment

The charges were in relation to a June 2018 incident in which a woman, who is referred to as E.M. due to a publication ban, alleges she was sexually assaulted in a London, Ont. hotel room following a Hockey Canada gala.

Nearly seven years after the alleged assault and after multiple police investigations, the case was brought before the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in London in late April.

E.M. began nearly 10 days of testimony via CCTV video feed on May 2, retelling the events from the night of June 18, 2018, and the early morning of June 19. She was then cross-examined by lawyers from each of the five accused players’ defense teams, and on one occasion, the court stopped for the day after E.M. began crying.

Four members of the 2018 world junior team also provided witness testimony, including Boris Katchouk and Tyler Steenbergen, as well as current NHLers Taylor Raddysh and Brett Howden. Carter Hart was the only accused player to provide testimony. Separate police interviews from 2018 with McLeod, Formenton and Dube were played in court.

The trial ended on June 13. There was a mistrial early on when the judge dismissed the first jury. After E.M.'s testimony, the second jury was dismissed after a juror alleged two defense lawyers were disrespecting them. The trial continued by judge alone instead of calling a second mistrial, which would have meant E.M. and each of the witnesses called to the stand by that point would have had to testify again.

This case shook the country and put a spotlight on Hockey Canada’s operations after TSN’s Rick Westhead reported in 2022 that the governing body reached an out-of-court settlement with E.M. Since then, high-profile sponsors distanced themselves from Hockey Canada, and the federal government held hearings into the organization’s handling of allegations of misconduct. A new slate of directors replaced the one that resigned, and Katherine Henderson became Hockey Canada’s first woman to serve as president and CEO.

London police opened a new investigation into the allegations and laid charges on the five men in February 2024. Those are the charges assessed in the trial.