Trial date set for 2018 Canadian World Junior players’ sexual assault trial

A judge has ruled that the five players from the Canadian 2018 World Junior facing charges for an alleged sexual assault will face trial starting on April 22, 2025.

The trial is expected to take eight weeks.

The five players are accused of a group sexual assault stemming to an alleged incident just months after Canada won gold in Buffalo.

Michael McLeod is charged with two counts of sexual assault, including one for aiding others in committing a sexual assault. Carter Hart, Cal Foote, Dillon Dube and Alex Formenton are each charged with one count of sexual assault.

None of the players currently has an NHL contract, with Dube and Foote currently playing in Europe. McLeod was released from his KHL deal with Kazakh-based Barys Astana last month after the team elected to move on from import players.

In June of 2018, the accused were London, Ont., to celebrate their 2018 World Junior gold medal win with their teammates. After the Hockey Canada event, team members 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, where the alleged assault took place.

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 during a press conference earlier this year.

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. Sponsors were quick to leave Hockey Canada, with the 2022 World Juniors in Edmonton noticeably having a lack of brands on the boards.

Ottawa is set to host the 2025 World Junior Championship from Dec. 26 – Jan. 5.