Lawyer: "London Police have charged several players, including Alex Formenton, in connection with an accusation made in 2018."
Former Ottawa Senators winger Alex Formenton turned himself in at police headquarters in London, Ontario on Sunday.
Formenton's lawyer made the following statement to the Globe and Mail:
“The London Police have charged several players, including Alex Formenton, in connection with an accusation made in 2018. Alex will vigorously defend his innocence and asks that people not rush to judgment without hearing all of the evidence."
The Globe and Mail reported earlier in this week that police had directed five unnamed members of Canada’s 2018 World Junior Hockey team to surrender. The direction to surrender is in relation to an allegation from a young woman, who told police she was sexually assaulted in 2018 by a group of junior hockey players in a London hotel room.
Meanwhile, five players from the 2018 World Junior team were granted leaves of absence this week by their current pro teams. That included Formenton (Switzerland), Dillon Dube (Calgary Flames), Carter Hart (Philadelphia Flyers), Michael MacLeod and Cal Foote (New Jersey Devils).
London Police have not publicly named any of the hockey players allegedly involved, but issued this statement on Wednesday:
"We understand that there is significant public interest in relation to a sexual assault investigation dating back to 2018. While we are unable to provide an update at this time, we anticipate that the London Police Service will hold a press conference on Monday, February 5, 2024 to share further details."
Police had noting further to add on Sunday.
Formenton was seen walking into London police headquarters on Sunday with high-profile criminal defense lawyers, Daniel Brown and Lindsay Board.
Formenton became a restricted free agent after the 2021-22 season when he scored 18 goals for the Senators as a rookie, and established himself as one of the fastest players in the NHL. Despite this, he wasn't re-signed by Ottawa or even traded, and eventually signed on to play pro hockey in Switzerland for parts of the past two seasons.