London Police confirm 2018 Team Canada sexual assault charges: Two counts for McLeod, one for Dube, Formenton, McLeod and Foote

In late January, five 2018 Canadian World Junior Team members, Dillon Dube, Carter Hart, Alex Formenton, Michael McLeod and Cal Foote, met the order from London Police Services to turn themselves in and be charged with the 2018 sexual assault of a woman. London Police Services conducted a press conference Monday to share updates on the case.

Many of the questions from media were stopped in their tracks on the grounds that London Police Services “cannot discuss details that are now part of the case before the courts,” but they did provide some new information on the investigation.

London Police initially investigated the alleged sexual assault from June 2018 to February 2019 and closed the case without charges, “as it was determined by investigators at that time that there were insufficient grounds to lay a charge,” said London Police Chief Thai Truong Monday.

A comprehensive review was initiated in July 2022, however, after the alleged victim filed a civil suit in court, which TSN reported in May 2022 was quietly settled by Hockey Canada for $3.55 million dollars. While London Police wouldn’t confirm Monday that media pressure influenced the reopening of the investigation, they did confirm that some new information from the community came to light during that time period, leading to the reopening.

The review involved “re-examining additional investigative steps, gathering additional evidence and obtaining new information,” Truong said. As a result, London Police found sufficient evidence to charge five men with sexual assault.

McLeod, 26, is charged with two counts of sexual assault – one for his own actions and one for aiding someone else in committing an assault.

Dube, 25, Hart, 25, Formenton, 24, and Foote, 25 are each charged with one count.

All were released on undertakings with their first court appearances occurring Monday morning.

The civil suit settled in 2022 included the alleged victim accusing eight players, but London Police confirmed Monday that their evidence only provided grounds for charging the aforementioned five.

As accounted Monday by Detective Sgt. Katherine Dann, on June 18, 2018, the accused were in London, Ont., to celebrate their 2018 World Junior gold medal win with their teammates. After the Hockey Canada event, members of the team kept the celebration going, and some attended Jack’s, a bar in downtown London, where they met the victim. In the early morning hours of June 19, she went to the Delta London Armouries Hotel with one of the accused. The other four accused attended the same hotel – “and this is where the offense took place,” Dann said. “Later that morning, our service received a phone call from an individual related to the victim in this matter, seeking advice regarding a sexual assault.”

The 2018 investigation commenced as a result of that phone call. It ultimately did not lead to charges. When Truong, who was not yet chief of police at that time, was pressed Monday as to why, he repeatedly clarified that the 2018 and 2022 investigations were not mutually exclusive. They are one investigation, he said, with some of the evidence from 2018 still being used. For that reason, London Police won’t provide details as to what went wrong in the initial investigation. He did clarify that the investigators from 2018 are no longer on the case – and he apologized to ‘E.M,’ whom he referred to as the victim at her request, for how long the process has taken.

“My sincerest apology to the victim, to her family, for the amount of time that it has taken to reach this point,” Truong said. “As a police officer working in this space for many, many years, I can tell you that this is a difficult, difficult situation for all victims and survivors of sexual violence.”

The legal representation for each player has asserted his innocence publicly. On Monday, the Canadian Press reported that court proceedings for the case have been adjourned until April 30.

During the NHL’s All-Star Game presser last week, commissioner Gary Bettman affirmed that the league’s investigation into the 2018 incident proceeded independently of Hockey Canada’s and the London Police’s and took approximately 12 months. The league’s investigators interviewed every member of the 2018 “as well as other relevant individuals who were willing to participate in the investigation.” The alleged victim did not participate in that process.

As Bettman explained it, the league had concluded the investigatory process and was working with NHL Players’ Association beginning in fall 2023 to determine the next steps, and that’s when the news broke of the police ordering five players to surrender on Jan. 24. The league did not have advance notice from London Police.

Bettman also stated Friday that there will be no immediate disciplinary action handed out to Dube, Hart, Formenton, McLeod or Foote, no movement to suspend them without pay, pending the results of the legal proceedings. The players will be paid the balance of their contracts while on leave.

“As a personal matter, if I were them, I would be focusing on defending themselves, assuming the charges come down, and I would be surprised if they’re playing while this is pending,” Bettman said.