A woman testified Monday in a disturbing sexual assault case involving five former members of Canada’s 2018 world junior hockey team, detailing a series of alleged attacks in a London, Ontario hotel room.
The witness said Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dube and Cal Foote forced themselves on her after a celebration of Team Canada’s world junior championship.
It started when she went to McLeod’s hotel room and had consensual sex with him. But things quickly turned frightening when other players began showing up.
“It felt degrading,” she told the court. “It was all just a joke to them.”
The woman described being made to lie on a bedsheet while the men discussed sexual acts they wanted her to perform. She said they pulled down their pants demanding oral sex, with one player even doing the splits over her face.
When she tried to leave, they kept convincing her to stay. She felt trapped, unsure how they might react if she refused.
“My mind just shut down,” she testified.
At one point, she went to the bathroom where one of the men followed her in and had sex with her after putting on a condom, according to her testimony.
All five players face sexual assault charges. McLeod has an additional charge of being party to sexual assault.
The case has sent shockwaves through professional hockey. When the charges came down, McLeod, Hart, Dube and Foote were all active NHL players.
This testimony marks a crucial moment in a case that’s forced Canada’s hockey community to confront serious questions about culture and conduct in the sport.
