LONDON, Ont. — More than seven years after an investigation was opened, a judge found all five hockey players not guilty in the sexual assault trial here Thursday.

The ruling was read in front of a packed and sweltering courtroom — and two full overflow rooms — over the course of four-plus hours by Ontario Supreme Court Justice Maria Carroccia.

Michael McLeod had been charged with two counts of sexual assault, including one relating to abetting in the offences. Dillon Dube, Cal Foote, Alex Formenton and Carter Hart were each charged with one count of sexual assault. All pleaded not guilty to their charges when the trial opened in April.

All were members of the Canadian world junior team that was being given rings at a gala celebration June 17-19, 2018, in London.

In her ruling, Carroccia said she did not find the evidence of the complainant to be “credible or reliable.”

The complainant in the case is known as E.M. because of a publication ban on her name.

A conviction for sexual assault carries a prison sentence of up to 10 years, according to the Canadian Criminal Code. First-time offenders are more likely to be sentenced to about two years.

“This is a case about consent,” assistant Crown attorney Heather Donkers said in her opening statement. “And, equally as important, this is a case about what is not consent.”

In the Crown’s closing statement, assistant Crown attorney Meaghan Cunningham reinforced that point, saying, “what happened to E.M. is more nuanced, but it is equally a sexual assault because she did not voluntarily agree to the sexual activity that took place in that room.”

Under Canadian law, consent cannot be granted if someone is inebriated or unconscious.

During her nine days on the stand, E.M. was challenged by the defence teams of the five lawyers for her testimony about how much she had to drink, her use of the term “boys” during  interviews with the London Police Service in 2018 but “men” during the trial, lying about her weight to police, her claim of inebriation while video evidence showed her walk steadily in high heels, for seemingly approaching the trial with an “agenda” and for having cheated on her boyfriend in 2018.

Hart, the lone player of the five to take the stand, said he was open to a sexual encounter on June 18-19, 2018. His memory of events from that night was repeatedly challenged by the Crown.

Video interviews taken by police in 2018 of McLeod and Formenton were admitted into evidence; both said the sex was consensual, although McLeod did not mention sending texts to a group chat encouraging his teammates to come to Room 209 in the Delta Armouries hotel for a “3 way,” which was introduced into evidence by the Crown. The LPS investigator in 2018 was not aware of the group chats, which were created in the days after June 19, 2018.

An audio interview with Dube was also played for the court, in which he did not mention a slap to E.M.’s buttocks that was testified as being seen by other witnesses. A text-message exchange between Taylor Raddysh and Brett Howden commenting on the force of the slap by Dube was ruled inadmissible by Carroccia because it wasn’t perceived as a sworn statement.

The charge against Foote was based on the allegation by the Crown that he did the splits over E.M.’s face while naked. His lawyer maintained he was clothed when he did them.

Other witnesses who testified included former NHLers Tyler Steenbergen and Boris Katchouk, both of whom were on the 2018 Canadian world junior team and were in Room 209 at some point during the early hours of June 19, 2018.

The verdict brings to a close the eight-week trial that saw the dismissal of two juries, the first as a mistrial. The second dismissal, coming after E.M. had testified, resulted in Carroccia taking over matters in a judge-only trial.

The case came to mainstream attention when, in May 2022, a TSN report revealed that Hockey Canada had settled a civil lawsuit with a woman in London after she alleged she was sexually assaulted by eight men, including members of the 2018 Canadian men’s world junior team, following an event honouring the team in June 2018.

An investigation by the London Police Service was launched almost immediately and closed in February 2019, with an investigator concluding that there was insufficient evidence to lay charges.

After widespread scrutiny of Hockey Canada’s handling of the situation, including testimony by executives in front of a Parliamentary committee, London police reopened its investigation in July 2022, laying charges in January 2024.

The results of Hockey Canada investigations conducted by Toronto lawyer Danielle Robitaille and were concurrent with the LPS investigations were ruled inadmissible by a pre-trial judge.