Content warning: This story contains descriptions of alleged sexual assault.
The five hockey players who were accused of sexual assault have been found not guilty, as the months-long Hockey Canada trial came to a close on Thursday. Michael McLeod, Dillon Dubé, Cal Foote, Alex Formenton and Carter Hart, who faced charges of sexual assault, were acquitted by a judge in London, Ontario.
The charges dated back to an incident that took place in 2018, when the five players were in London for a gala and golf tournament in honor of their championship win as part of Canada’s world junior hockey team. A woman, known as E.M. in the trial, has alleged that the players sexually assaulted her over several hours in a hotel room after the event.
McLeod was also facing a second charge for being "party to the offense," pleading not guilty to that charge as well. McLeod was acquitted of that charge.
Judge Maria Carroccia opened Thursday's verdict by saying that she did not find E.M.'s testimony to be "credible or reliable," later noting that her story had inconsistencies.
Importantly, the judge felt that prosecutors did not prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt, giving her the need to lean towards acquittal.
"Having found that I cannot rely upon the evidence of E.M. and then considering the evidence in this trial as a whole, I conclude that the Crown cannot meet its onus on any of the counts before me," the judge said earlier in the ruling, via multiple outlets.
Carroccia's primary issue was whether the sexual contact was not consensual, which is what makes the incident sexual assault. Carroccia cited videos filmed by McLeod where E.M. said that what was going on was "all consensual"; additionally, E.M. had consensual sex with at least one of the players earlier in the night, complicating her story.
In that manner, the judge said that prosecutors did not successfully prove that E.M did not consent.
"In this case, I have found actual consent not vitiated by fear," Judge Carroccia said during the ruling.
The trial, which took place seven years after the original incident, has taken a long and meandering path to Thursday's verdict. E.M. initially reported the incident to London police in 2018, but the initial investigation was closed in 2019 due to a lack of evidence.
The case was reopened after E.M. reached an undisclosed settlement with Hockey Canada and the Canadian Hockey League in 2022. That lawsuit had alleged that eight players, who were unnamed at the time, had been involved.
Charges were not filed until 2024, when the names of the five players who were charged were revealed. Other players were involved but did not face charges, having allegedly left the hotel room before the assault took place; those players were called to the stand to testify on the night in question.
Additionally, Judge Carroccia's ruling was given six weeks after the trial's arguments concluded.
Four of the players — McLeod, Hart, Dubé and Foote — were playing in the NHL at the time that charges were filed, while Formenton was playing in a Swiss league. All of them went on indefinite leave and are not currently under contract with a team.
The five players have also been barred from playing for the Canadian national team after Hockey Canada opened an investigation, though it is probable that the acquittal will have an effect on that investigation.
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