Hockey players’ acquittal reverberates in southwestern Ontario city after ruling

LONDON — The acquittal of five former members of Canada’s world junior hockey team who were accused of sexual assault continued to reverberate Friday in the southwestern Ontario city where the trial — and the encounter that gave rise to it — took place, as some residents and advocates said the case provides opportunities for important conversations around consent.

A day after an Ontario judge acquitted Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dube and Callan Foote on all charges against them, Lara Harkous said the case and its outcome have changed her view of the city she calls home.

Harkous, a 25-year-old employment counsellor, said she now feels more “hesitant to be part of the London community” and particularly its night scene, noting it’s not the first time the city has found itself in the spotlight due to allegations of sexual assault.

She pointed to the allegations of mass druggings and sexual assaults at Western University’s fall orientation week in 2021, which she said happened in her third year of school.

At the same time, she said, it’s been encouraging to see people talk about consent — even if it took a high-profile court case to spark those conversations.

“Unfortunately, this had to happen for these conversations to come up. But it’s also positive to see the people who are upset with this coming together and supporting each other.”

Supporters for the complainant and the players gathered outside the courthouse on several occasions Thursday, including for an evening rally after the decision was handed down.

The players were all acquitted of sexual assault, and McLeod was acquitted of a separate charge of being a party to the offence of sexual assault, in a ruling the defence deemed a “resounding vindication.”

Ontario Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia found the complainant’s testimony was not credible or reliable, and that there were “troubling aspects” in how she delivered some of her evidence.

The complainant tended to blame others for inconsistencies in her narrative and exaggerated her level of intoxication that night, Carroccia said. Some of the woman’s testimony differed from what she’d said in interviews with police and in a civil claim against Hockey Canada that was settled before the players were criminally charged, the judge added.

Carroccia said she found there was “consent not vitiated by fear,” noting the absence of physical force, violence or threats during the 2018 encounter.

Kat Owens, interim legal director for the advocacy group Women’s Legal Education & Action Fund, called the ruling “disappointing and disheartening.”

There’s also a risk that people will dismiss the need for broader conversation on consent given the judge’s findings, she said.

“But I’m also heartened because I do see a lot of people having conversations that are like, ‘Well, even though they got acquitted … I don’t feel great about what happened here and maybe we do need to talk about it,'” she said.

The case captured public attention to a degree that had not been seen in a long time, she said, and while it doesn’t break any new legal ground, it could have a broader impact outside the courtroom.

“I do think that there’s an opportunity here for the public to have a broader understanding of what consent is and have that conversation, and I also think there’s an opportunity to push for changes both within the criminal justice system and outside of it,” she said.

Adrian Nicholas, 35, said he became interested in the case in part because his girlfriend previously experienced harassment, and the two of them discussed it together.

Nicholas, who works in construction and played lacrosse recreationally in the past, said the spotlight cast on the case could make some rethink their own actions. “I think it could change a lot of people’s perspectives because of how much attention it got,” he said.

Corey Jolliffe, who was born and raised in London, said the case is “definitely one of the bigger things that’s happened around here” in the last decade or so, and he hopes it will lead people to examine some aspects of sports culture.

However, the impact of the case is likely to fade over time, at least for those not directly affected, the 32-year-old said.

“It’s a crappy situation for everybody involved, because I think their hockey careers got impacted and I think even though they kept her anonymous, I think enough people knew who she was,” he said.

“So I think it impacts both sides, but I don’t think it impacts the community more (than) it impacts the individuals for the long term. Short term, you have people talking about it, but I think … it’ll pass.”

Thursday’s ruling came roughly seven years after the incident that led to the charges — an encounter that took place in a hotel room in the early hours of June 19, 2018, after the complainant had consensual sex with McLeod.

The incident first came to the public’s attention in 2022, after TSN reported that Hockey Canada had quietly settled a lawsuit filed against the sports organization and eight unnamed players for an undisclosed amount.

Court heard the organization moved ahead with the settlement without the players’ knowledge or agreement.

David Humphrey, who represents McLeod, said after Thursday’s ruling that the “one-sided narrative” laid out in the lawsuit unfairly shaped public perception for years and created a lasting and false impression of guilt that harmed his client’s reputation and career.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 25, 2025.

The Canadian Press