'Nothing more than the usual': Hockey Canada verdict echoes cases in Sault Ste. Marie
Wednesday's verdict in a London courtroom, which found five former Canadian world junior players not guilty in a 2018 sexual assault case, marked the end of a high-profile trial that reignited national conversations — including in Sault Ste. Marie — about sexual violence and accountability in hockey.
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The outcome has resounded across the country, particularly among those working directly with survivors.
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'We were really, really disappointed to hear the verdict,' said Sarah Paciocco, a sexual assault and abuse crisis counsellor at Women in Crisis Algoma.
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In the case, the complainant, known as E.M., spent years under public scrutiny before taking the stand. Over the course of her testimony, she faced long hours of cross-examination and was asked to relive painful memories.
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'I think it really drives home the point for people to understand why women often don't come forward,' Paciocco said. 'The trauma they go through having to sit on trial, having to divulge so many details, being re-traumatized, doing all that work, all that time.'
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This moment didn't begin in London, and it likely won't end there. The Hockey Canada verdict — in which five players, Michael McLeod, Alex Formenton, Carter Hart, Dillon Dube and Cal Foote, were found not guilty of sexually assaulting a woman in a London hotel room — is one in a long line of similar cases involving junior hockey players. In communities across the country, including Sault Ste. Marie, allegations of sexual misconduct have surfaced consistently.
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In 2012, three Soo Greyhounds players — Nick Cousins, Andrew Fritsch, and Mark Petaccio — were charged in connection with an alleged sexual assault on a woman. The charges were dropped eight months later when the Crown found there was 'no reasonable prospect of conviction.'
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Despite the serious nature of the allegations, all three players walked away without a trial. Each entered into a 12-month peace bond that required no admission of guilt but included conditions like staying 500 metres away from the complainant.
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The complainant, present in the courtroom, left quickly after the judge's decision. No one from the Crown's office commented on the case. Lawyers for the players emphasized the stress their clients endured and described the prosecution's decision as vindication.
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In 1996, CBC's Fifth Estate revisited the case of former Greyhound Jarrett Reid, who was charged with 21 offences against two women during his time with the Hounds in the early '90s. He pleaded guilty to eight charges and served part of a nine-month jail term.
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