A judge has found five former members of Canada’s world junior hockey team not guilty in a high-profile sexual assault case. The charges were related to an alleged incident in a London, Ontario hotel room in June 2018 involving Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dube, and Callan Foote. All five men had pleaded not guilty to the charge of sexual assault.
McLeod was also found not guilty of being party to the offence of sexual assault.
Ontario Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia delivered her decision after reading her ruling in court for several hours. She said there were serious problems with the testimony from the woman involved, known as E.M. The judge said her evidence was not strong enough to find the men guilty.
Videos taken the night of the incident showed E.M. acting sober and saying clearly that she was “OK with this” and that it was consensual. The judge also said E.M. exaggerated how drunk she was, and her actions in the videos did not support her claim that she was too impaired to give consent.
The judge looked at each man’s role and said there was not enough proof that Carter Hart acted without consent. In Callan Foote’s case, the judge said there was no proof that he acted with sexual intent. Similar doubts were found in the cases of McLeod, Dube, and Formenton.
With this decision, all five men have been cleared of the charges. However, the case has started a larger conversation across the country about consent and how serious allegations like these are handled.
Written by: K. Milhomens