A woman alleging she was sexually assaulted by five professional hockey players in a London, Ont. hotel room said she took on a “porn star persona†as a coping mechanism in a room surrounded by men she didn’t know, the players’ trial heard Wednesday.̀ư
Former 2018 Canadian world junior championship hockey players Michael McLeod, Alex Formenton, Carter Hart, Dillon DubĂ©, and Cal Foote have pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting the then-20-year-old woman in a room at the Delta Armouries hotel in the early hours of June 19, 2018.̀ư
Carter Hart, centre, leaves the London courthouse with his lawyers Megan Savard, left, and̀ưRiaz Sayani, right, on Friday.
Geoff Robins/THE CANADIAN PRESSThe woman had met McLeod at Jack’s Bar when she says she was quite drunk, and returned to his hotel room where they had consensual sex. After McLeod sent a text about a “three-way†to his teammates — which McLeod’s lawyer argues was sent at the complainant’s request as she was demanding to have sex with players — multiple men filed into the room throughout the night.
It was a tense fourth day on the stand for the complainant as she was cross-examined by Hart’s lawyer, Megan Savard, who put to her that she provided a statement to police in 2022 that she’s now admitted was riddled with errors, and that she made up the sexual assault allegations so that her boyfriend and now-fiancĂ© wouldn’t dump her.̀ư
Savard also explored notes from a witness preparation meeting from earlier this year between the complainant, Crown attorney Meaghan Cunningham and London police Det. Lyndsey Ryan. In the notes, the complainant said that if she did ask to have sex with players in the room or offer to perform sexual acts, it was because she’d adopted the “persona†of àư“porn star†to cope with being there.̀ư
“To use your words — speaking of your body, not your mind — the way you’re acting in the room is kind of like a porn star?†Savard asked her.̀ư
The woman replied: “It felt like that’s what they were forcing on me … It seemed like that’s what they wanted to see. They were trying to recreate like a porn scene.â€̀ư
And so one of the ways she adopted the persona was by offering sexual services or performances to the players, Savard suggested.̀ư
“I don’t have a memory of offering that up,†the woman testified, “but based on this persona I was trying to use to cope, it could be possible.â€
One way to engage this persona in a room full of men would be to ask them, “Who’s going to f—- me,†Savard suggested.̀ư
“That doesn’t sound like what I would say,†the complainant testified. “I don’t think even my persona would have said something like that.â€
The complainant, whose identity is covered by a standard publication ban, has said the men asked her to fondle herself on a bedsheet on the floor, perform oral sex on them while she was slapped and spat on, and engage in vaginal intercourse. The woman has testified she engaged in the sexual activity as a way to protect herself in an intimidating environment, saying her mind had separated from her body. She didn’t refuse, nor was she physically prevented from leaving the room.̀ư
“It didn’t feel like I had any other option,†she said of the sexual activity, testifying via CCTV from a different room in the courthouse. “It wasn’t that I needed to be told to do that, it was just automatically how my body responded based on the situation I was in.â€
Savard suggested the woman was acting in a way that would make the men think she was consenting, and pointed to an interview the complainant did with a third-party probe conducted for Hockey Canada, in which she said: “Given how drunk I was during it and since I was just going along with what was happening, they must have thought it was fine.â€
The complainant disagreed with Savard’s suggestion.̀ư
Court ended 10 minutes early Wednesday after the complainant broke down as she was being grilled by Savard about her $3.5-million lawsuit filed in 2022 against Hockey Canada and eight unnamed John Doe players.
“I’m getting a little flustered with everything,†she said through tears.
The players were in London in June 2018 to attend the Hockey Canada Foundation’s annual Gala & Golf fundraising event and to receive their rings for winning the championship. The Crown has alleged that McLeod had vaginal intercourse with the complainant a second time and Formenton did as well, but on separate occasions that night; that McLeod, DubĂ© and Hart obtained oral sex from the complainant, and that Foote did the splits over the complainant’s head while she was on the ground and his genitals “grazed†her face.̀ư
The complainant has only been able to identify McLeod and Formenton, who were roommates at the Delta. When she first spoke to police in 2018 and went through a photo line-up, the complainant did not identify Savard’s client, Hart, as one of the men to whom she gave oral sex, but rather pointed to another member of the team based on his hair colour and who was not ultimately charged.̀ư
Michael McLeod films a selfie video with the complainant on the dance floor inside Jack's Bar.
Ontario Superior Court exhibitSavard also suggested that the woman came up with the sexual assault allegations in order to save her relationship with her boyfriend. The woman maintained that she “still took responsibility†for going back to McLeod’s room and having sex with him before everyone else came in, and that she did consider that to be cheating on her boyfriend. “But I don’t know if he took it that way,†she said about her boyfriend.̀ư
“Right, he reacted with sympathy,†Savard said to the complainant. “He reacted with sympathy because he saw you as a victim.â€̀ư
The complainant responded: “I guess, yes.â€
The woman also admitted in court this week that a statement she provided to the Hockey Canada probe in July 2022 contained multiple errors, yet still told London police about its existence when the force reopened their own investigation and ultimately charged the five players. She also admitted that she didn’t actually write the statement, but that it was drafted by her lawyers and she reviewed and signed it.̀ư
The statement fails to mention that she initiated physical contact with McLeod on the dance floor at Jack’s, bought at least one drink with him as opposed to him buying all of the alcohol, and kissed him. It also incorrectly states that McLeod saw the complainant fall outside the Jack’s bathroom, and that she only learned later that he and his friends were hockey players, when she testified in court that she pieced together they were hockey players while at Jack’s.̀ư
The complainant has testified she didn’t have a chance to review her police interview transcripts from 2018 before signing off on the 2022 statement, and that she had a lot going on and didn’t think the Hockey Canada probe was as serious as a police investigation. But then why also authorize Det. Ryan with London police to get a copy of that inaccurate statement, Savard asked her Wednesday, and to go as far as telling Ryan that the statement would “clarify†some of the police’s questions.̀ư
The complainant said she didn’t recall the details of that conversation with Ryan, but that she would defer to her if that’s what the officer wrote in her notes.
