5 former hockey players of Canadian team acquitted of sexual assault charges

By Zehra Nur Celik

ANKARA (AA) – A court on Thursday acquitted all five former members of Canada’s 2018 world junior hockey team of charges of sexual assault, concluding a high-profile eight-week case that triggered a national conversation around consent, sexual misconduct, and hockey culture, according to local media.

Ontario Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia announced not guilty verdicts for Carter Hart, Alex Formenton, Cal Foote, Dillon Dube, and Michael McLeod, ruling that the prosecution failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the complainant had not consented to the sexual encounter that took place in an Ontario hotel room in 2018, the CBC reported.

Carroccia spent hours reviewing the extensive evidence presented during the trial and raised multiple concerns regarding the consistency and credibility of nine days of testimony by the complainant, referred to as E.M.

"I do not find the evidence of E.M. credible or reliable,” Carrocia told the court.

"Considering the evidence in this trial as a whole, I conclude that the Crown cannot meet its onus on any of the counts,” she said.

Following the ruling, E.M. expressed deep disappointment, calling the outcome devastating. The prosecution has 30 days to file an appeal, according to the CBC.