For sexual assault: Formenton and four NHL professionals in court

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In 2022, a young woman sued the Canadian ice hockey association “Hockey Canada”. She claimed she was sexually assaulted by eight young men at a charity event in the early hours of June 19, 2018. The association swept the lawsuit under the civil rug by paying the equivalent of approximately R2.3 million.

According to court documents, the woman, who was 20 at the time of the alleged crime, said a man took her to a hotel room and then invited seven other men to perform unspecified sex acts. She was then intimidated and was not allowed to leave the hotel, had to shower and testify on a mobile phone camera that she was not under the influence of alcohol.

When it was revealed in 2022 that Hockey Canada had paid more than the equivalent of R6 million in hush money to potential victims of abuse since 1989, sponsors, the public and politicians put enormous pressure on it.

The young woman’s father-in-law had already filed a sexual assault report with the police in London on the day of the incident, but the investigation was closed without results in February 2019.

Ice hockey professionals Alex Formenton (24, Ambri), Carter Hart (25, Philadelphia Flyers), Dillon Dube (25, Calgary Flames) and Cal Foote (25, New Jersey Devils) were accused of sexual assault, Michael McLeod (26, New Jersey Devils ) was charged with sexual assault and incitement to sexual assault.

Despite scoring 18 goals, the Ottawa Senators will waive the forward in 2022. Officially because he was unable to reach an agreement with the NHL club after the expiration of his entry-level contract. There is speculation in Canada that the organization, which is for sale after the death of owner Eugene Melnyk, does not want to burn its fingers with Formenton while the investigation is ongoing. The deadline for an agreement expired on December 1, but the club retained the rights to the player. On December 14, 2022, Formenton was signed by Ambri.

The London (Ontario) Police Department reopened the investigation in 2022 under intense public and political pressure and filed an application with the Ontario Court of Justice in the spring of 2023 based on reasonable suspicion that a young woman was one of the five members was from the 2018 U20 national team was sexually assaulted.

The first hearing was postponed until April 30. It is estimated that it will take 18 to 24 months for the process to begin; Ontario courts have experienced a backlog of cases since the pandemic. It is expected that the players will remain free until then. The Supreme Court of Canada ruled in 2016 that these types of proceedings must be completed within 30 months. If a decision has not yet been made, the procedure must be stopped.

In Canada, sexual assault law provides for prison sentences of up to ten years; the sentence depends on several factors, including the age of the alleged victim at the time of the crime. The NHL, which has ordered its own investigation into the matter in parallel with authorities, will not comment on possible disciplinary action until the matter is concluded. It is unlikely that the players will continue their professional careers in North America.

Source : Blick