5 former Canadian world junior hockey players now face sexual assault charges
CBC
WARNING: This article contains graphic content and may affect those who have experienced sexual violence or know someone affected by it.
Four NHL players face sexual assault charges related to an alleged group incident in 2018 in London, Ont., when they were members of Canada's World Junior hockey team.
Lawyers for Michael McLeod and Cal Foote of the New Jersey Devils, Dillon Dubé of the Calgary Flames and Carter Hart of the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday confirmed the charges. They come two days after 24-year-old Alex Formenton, another member of the 2018 junior team and a former NHL player, showed up at London Police Service (LPS) headquarters and was charged with sexual assault.
McLeod, Dubé, Foote and Hart, all 25, are among former world junior players on leaves from their NHL teams.
"Mr. McLeod denies any criminal wrongdoing," said David Humphrey and Seth Weinstein in a statement to CBC News.
"He will be pleading not guilty and will vigorously defend the case," the statement said. "None of the evidence has been presented, let alone tested in court. We ask that the public respect Mr. McLeod's privacy and his family's privacy. Because the matter is now before the court, we will not comment further at this time."
Dube's lawyers, Louis Strezos and Kaleigh Davidson, said the native of Golden, B.C., will "plead not guilty and maintains his innocence. He will defend the allegations in court. We ask that you respect the privacy of Mr. Dubé and that of his family. There will be no further comment at this time."
Carter's lawyer, Megan Savard, confirmed the news about the 25-year-old goaltender from Sherwood Park, Alta., but didn't provide a statement.
Foote's lawyer, Julianna Greenspan, said in a statement to CBC News: "Cal is innocent of the charge and will defend himself against this allegation to clear his name.
"What is most critical at this time is the presumption of innocence, and the right to a fair trial that everyone in Canada is entitled to," Greenspan said. "As the matter is before the court, I ask that Cal's and his family's privacy be respected. There will be no further comment at this time."
London criminal lawyer Nick Cake, who does not represent any of the players but has been watching developments this week, said he'll be watching to see what police say about the charges on Monday, when they are expected to release more details at a news conference.
"What I'm interested to see is whether they'll be charged jointly — in other words, they'll be co-accused with the same alleged crime or whether they'll all be charged individually," he told CBC News. "That's the biggest question I have right now.
"It may make for five separate trials or it may make for one longer, somewhat more complicated trial because you'd have five people in the same courtroom being tried for the same offence," he said.
This week, a number of players from the 2018 team requested and were granted absence leaves this week from their NHL and European teams. London police have not named any of the accused or provided any specifics about charges.
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