A series of videos taken the night of an alleged group sexual assault involving five former members of Canada’s world junior hockey team were played inside a London, Ont., court Wednesday.
The videos, including one involving the female complainant, were taken in the early morning hours of June 19, 2018, at the Delta hotel and were shown in quick succession Wednesday at the trial of Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dube and Callan Foote.
The five 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 one video taken at 4:26 a.m., a young woman can be seen holding a white towel against her body, smiling and looking into the camera.
“It was all consensual,” she said, before asking if she was being filmed.
“You are so paranoid…. I enjoyed it,” she said, before adding, “I am so sober, that’s why I can’t do this right now.”
In another video, taken about an hour earlier, someone asks the woman twice if she is “OK with this.” Both times, she agrees.
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Crown prosecutors had referred to the videos, which they allege were taken by McLeod, in their opening submissions to the jury on Monday.
The Crown has said the complainant agreed to have sex with McLeod in his hotel room after meeting him at a downtown bar earlier in the night; in her opening remarks to the new jury Monday, prosecutor Heather Donkers alleged McLeod started inviting other people into his hotel room afterwards.
Donkers added that 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, captured around 2:10 a.m. that day, that involves members of the world junior team.
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.”
Several members of the team were at the bar in London after attending a Hockey Canada gala earlier, court has heard.
After McLeod and the woman’s consensual sexual encounter, the Crown alleges McLeod invited others into the room, with as many as 10 present at some point. It was then that several sexual acts took place without the woman’s voluntary consent, the prosecution alleges.
On Monday, court saw some security video from the bar. In various clips, the complainant — who cannot be identified under a standard publication ban — is shown inside the bar with a friend.
Donkers said the woman, who was 20 at the time, was drunk and uncomfortable, and tried to get through the night by doing what she thought the men wanted.
Current NHL players are expected to testify as witnesses for the prosecution, though it’s unclear how many active NHL players will be called to testify or when.
— with files from The Canadian Press
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