WARNING: This article contains graphic content and may affect those who have experienced sexual violence or know someone affected by it
Five former 2018 world junior hockey players have been told to surrender themselves to police in London, Ont., to face sexual assault charges in a high-profile case that has embroiled the sport’s governing body in controversy, the Globe and Mail reports.
London Police declined to comment publicly on the status of the case Wednesday.
In a social media post, the department said police “anticipate” holding a press conference on Feb. 5 to discuss “a sexual assault investigation dating back to 2018.”
CBC News has not independently verified the Globe and Mail report.
Court documents in 2022 revealed London Police believed they had reasonable grounds to accuse the players of sexually assaulting a young woman in a London, Ont., hotel room in June 2018.
London police closed the case in 2018, then re-opened it in 2022 in response to public outrage following a lawsuit.
CBC’s The Fifth Estate has reported that the first investigation was described as “cursory at best” by experts.
The alleged victim, known only as “E.M.” in court documents, sued eight unnamed players, Hockey Canada and the Canadian Hockey League for more than $3.5 million. Hockey Canada settled that lawsuit.
E.M.’s statement of claim alleged the woman, who was 20 at the time, met the players when the World Juniors champions were in London for the Hockey Canada Foundation Gala and Golf event.
The statement of claim alleged she went to a player’s hotel room afterward and engaged in sexual acts with him.
The statement of claim alleged that at some point, the player allowed seven others to enter the room without her “knowledge or consent.”
The statement of claim also said the men brought “golf clubs with them, knowing it would further frighten and intimidate her.”
Over several hours, according to the statement of claim, the group of hockey players engaged in a series of degrading sexual acts, including placing genitals on the victim’s face, slapping her buttocks, spitting and ejaculating on her and engaging in vaginal intercourse while she was too intoxicated to consent.
The young woman reported that at some points she was crying and tried to leave the room, but was “directed, manipulated and intimidated into remaining,” the statement of claim said.
The claim said that after the alleged sexual assault ended, the players filmed the young woman, instructed her to…
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