The judge cited insufficient proof and lack of credibility in the allegations by the complainant about the 2018 hotel room encounter
An Ontario judge acquitted five former members of Canada’s world junior hockey team on Thursday in their sexual assault case, saying the complainant’s allegations lacked the credibility needed to justify the charges.
Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia said prosecutors could not meet the onus of proof for the charges against Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dube and Callan Foote.
Carroccia said the complainant had a “tendency to blame others” for inconsistencies in her story, including police officers and her lawyers in the civil lawsuit.
She also said the woman went to “great lengths” to point out that she was really drunk throughout the course of the night, but that is not supported by surveillance video from a bar and hotel that night, and the testimony of others.
