Trial of sexual assault accused ex-junior hockey players continues, complainant says 'froze' in hotel room

The trial of five former Canadian world junior hockey players in a case stemming from an alleged sexual assault incident in June 2018 continued this week with emotional and at times contentious testimony from the complainant, identified in court as E.M.

Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dube, and Callan Foote are all charged with sexual assault in connection with an incident. McLeod faces an additional charge of being a party to the offence.

E.M said she had consensual sex with McLeod but was surprised and overwhelmed when other players came into the room. She told the court she felt she had to go along with what was happening and described being on “autopilot.”


“I just froze. I felt like I couldn’t stop it,” she said in earlier testimony.

McLeod’s lawyer, David Humphrey, said E.M. had invited the other players to join because she wanted to have a “wild night.” E.M. denied this, saying, “That doesn’t sound like anything I would usually say, and I don’t remember saying those words.”

Humphrey went on to say, “I would suggest Mr. McLeod asked if you were serious and if that’s what you really wanted, and then you said, ‘Yes, it was.’”

Humphrey also argued that E.M. could have left or told McLeod she had a boyfriend if she didn’t want to continue. E.M. admitted that it was true, but said she felt pressured and found it hard to speak up in the moment.

This case came to the public light in 2022 when it was revealed that Hockey Canada had used registration fees to settle a lawsuit related to the incident, which led to public outrage and widespread criticism of the association.