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TSN Report: Carter Hart Asked to Surrender to Ontario Police in Hockey Canada Scandal
Published:
A little after 4 p.m. on Tuesday, January 23rd, the Flyers announced that Carter Hart asked for, and was granted, an indefinite leave of absence.
Naturally, that resulted in speculation that Hart and other members of Canada’s 2018 World Juniors team might be charged with sexual assault in the case of an investigation that was closed in 2019 and reopened two years ago.
Fast forward one week, and Hart is identified by TSN as one of the players ordered to turn himself in:
Four NHLers – Carter Hart, Michael McLeod, Dillon Dube & Cal Foote – have been directed to surrender to London police to be charged with sexual assault in connection with an alleged incident that occurred during a 2018 Hockey Canada event.
From @rwesthead:… pic.twitter.com/8JeYMibBJt
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) January 30, 2024
From Rick Westhead’s TSN story:
Four National Hockey League players – Carter Hart, Michael McLeod, Dillon Dube, and Cal Foote – have been directed to surrender to police in London, Ont., to be charged with sexual assault in connection with an alleged incident that occurred during a Hockey Canada event in the city in June 2018, two sources familiar with the matter told TSN.
The players are expected to surrender before the London Police Service holds a press conference on Monday to update the public on the high-profile case.
Again, this isn’t some official confirmation from the police, but a sourced report from Westhead and TSN. There’s a press conference taking place next week, as police announced earlier.
If you’re not familiar with the Hockey Canada scandal, those members of the team were accused of sexually assaulting a woman in a hotel room following a fundraising event in the summer of 2018. Initially investigated by London (Ontario) police, the case was closed in February of the following year with no charges, but the investigation was reopened in 2022.
Bryan Murphy at The Sporting News summarized the allegations in a March 2023 writeup:
According to the lawsuit, the woman met the players at a bar, who were in London, Ont. for the Hockey Canada Foundation Gala & Golf event on June 18, 2018. She met one of the players, who is referred to as John Doe 1, who bought her alcoholic beverages. The woman said she was separated from her friend group as she became more intoxicated and eventually left the bar and went to a hotel with John Doe 1.
At the hotel, the two ” engaged in sexual acts” in John Doe 1’s hotel room. The woman said that after this, “John Doe 1 invited the remainder of the John Doe defendants into the room without the knowledge or consent of the Plaintiff.”
The woman said in the claim that over the next several hours, John Does 1-8 engaged in several sexual acts “which collectively constituted sexual abuse and assault of the Plaintiff.” During these assaults, “the Plaintiff experienced an ongoing apprehension of imminent physical harm of a sexual nature. The actions of the John Doe Defendants caused terror and fear in the Plaintiff’s mind.”
Hart didn’t comment on the investigation, but said in 2022 that he was fully cooperating.
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com