Wednesday, December 17, 2025
ADVT 
National

'It was all consensual,' woman says in video shown at hockey players' trial

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 30 Apr, 2025 11:19 AM
  • 'It was all consensual,' woman says in video shown at hockey players' trial

Holding a white towel against her body, a young woman smiles and looks into the camera.

"It was all consensual," she says before asking if she's being filmed.

"You are so paranoid ... I enjoyed it," she adds. "I am so sober that’s why I can’t do this right now.”

The short video, taken at the Delta hotel in London, Ont., at 4:26 a.m. on June 19, 2018, was one of a series of clips shownin quick succession Wednesday at the trial of Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dube and Callan Foote.

The five accused, who were on Canada’s 2018 world junior hockey team, have all pleaded not guilty to sexual assault. McLeod has also pleaded not guilty to an additional charge of being a party to the offence of sexual assault.

In another video, taken about an hour earlier, someone asks the woman twice if she is "OK with this." Both times, she agrees.

Prosecutors had referred to the videos, which they said were taken by McLeod, in their opening submissions to the jury on Monday. 

At the time, prosecutor Heather Donkers urged jurors to listen carefully to the complainant's testimony later in the trialregarding "what was happening before and during the recording of these videos." 

Donkers added the Crown plans to argue the videos are not evidence that the complainant did, in fact, consent.

Jurors were also shown Wednesday a screenshot of a group chat between members of the world junior team around 2:10 a.m. that day. In it, McLeod asks if anyone wants to be in a "three-way," then follows up with his hotel room number and Hart replies, "I'm in."

Prosecutors allege the complainant went with McLeod to his hotel room after they met at a downtown bar earlier in the night. Several members of the team were there after attending a Hockey Canada gala, court has heard.

At the hotel, McLeod and the complainant had sex — an encounter that is not part of the trial, court heard. 

Afterward, McLeod invited others into the room, with as many as 10 present at some point, the Crown alleges. In the hours that followed, a number of sexual acts took place without the woman's voluntary consent, the prosecution alleges.

CAUTION: The following paragraphs contain graphic content some readers may find disturbing.

The Crown alleges McLeod, Hart and Dube obtained oral sex from the complainant without her consent at some point during the night, and that Dube slapped the complainant's buttocks without her consent while she was engaged in a sexual act with someone else.

Formenton is alleged to have had vaginal sex with the complainant in the bathroom without her consent. Foote allegedly did the splits over the complainant's face while she lay on the ground, grazing his genitals over her face, without her consent.

The Crown alleges McLeod vaginally penetrated the complainant again at the end of the night, without her consent. It's also alleged he assisted and encouraged his teammates to engage in sexual acts with the complainant knowing she had not consented.

Also on Wednesday, court watched security video from the lobby of the hotel and from the bar where some of the playersand the complainant were earlier that evening.

The complainant, who was 20 at the time, cannot be identified under a standard publication ban.

Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nicole Osborne

MORE National ARTICLES

Suspect in Vancouver festival tragedy is brother of 2024 killing victim

Suspect in Vancouver festival tragedy is brother of 2024 killing victim
Vancouver Police have confirmed that the suspect inSaturday's deadly ramming attack that killed 11 people in the city is the brother of a man who died in an unrelated killing last year.

Suspect in Vancouver festival tragedy is brother of 2024 killing victim

Liberals win 4th mandate as NDP vote collapses and Singh announces he will resign

Liberals win 4th mandate as NDP vote collapses and Singh announces he will resign
On the final full day of the campaign, all major party leaders paused to address a deadly vehicle attack at a Filipino community event in Vancouver that took the lives of at least 11 attendees, leaving more injured in hospital.

Liberals win 4th mandate as NDP vote collapses and Singh announces he will resign

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre loses his long-held seat in Ottawa

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre loses his long-held seat in Ottawa
The Canadian Press decision desk is projecting that Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has lost in the Ottawariding of Carleton.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre loses his long-held seat in Ottawa

Father, mother, five-year-old daughter, killed in Vancouver attack, leave son behind

Father, mother, five-year-old daughter, killed in Vancouver attack, leave son behind
Richard Le sent a text to his 16-year-old son on Saturday at about 8 p.m., saying he and the teen's stepmother and little sister would soon leave the Lapu Lapu Day festival inVancouver.

Father, mother, five-year-old daughter, killed in Vancouver attack, leave son behind

Alberta Premier Smith congratulates Carney, warns him against future 'hostile acts'

Alberta Premier Smith congratulates Carney, warns him against future 'hostile acts'
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has delivered a note of congratulations — along with a sharply worded warning and a blanket condemnation — to Prime Minister Mark Carney and his new Liberal government.

Alberta Premier Smith congratulates Carney, warns him against future 'hostile acts'

B.C. to hold an independent commission into festival attack, considers public inquiry

B.C. to hold an independent commission into festival attack, considers public inquiry
British Columbia Premier David Eby says his government will launch an independent commission into the Vancouver festival attack that killed 11 people and a public inquiry if the criminal case doesn't provide answers the public is looking for. 

B.C. to hold an independent commission into festival attack, considers public inquiry