The Ontario Hockey League is aware of a report alleging eight former players sexually assaulted a woman in 2014, and the league will cooperate with any corresponding police investigation, the OHL said Thursday in a statement.
The report from Rick Westhead detailing the alleged incident aired Wednesday on CTV’s “W5” program. It included an interview with a woman who alleged the players sexually assaulted her in November 2014 at one of the player’s billet homes.
The OHL has issued a statement regarding allegations in a CTV Report filed on Wednesday. pic.twitter.com/MRZ4m0nCN4
— Ontario Hockey League (@OHLHockey) October 17, 2024
The woman — whose identity was protected by CTV — said she was 22 at the time of the incident. She said the player who invited her over to the billet house took her to a bathroom and initiated sexual acts before the other players — who ranged in age from 16 to 19 — joined in. The woman didn’t attempt to report the incident to police until earlier this year.
According to the report, the woman attempted to file a police report earlier this year but was given different answers as to which department was responsible for handling the case. Per the report, Ontario Provincial Police said that policy was not followed to ensure that the woman was connected to the correct jurisdiction for her to make a report.
“We can confirm that the civilian call-taker provided the victim with the contact information for the police service of jurisdiction to facilitate their report. However, standard operating procedures state that the call-taker should have personally connected the caller to the police service of jurisdiction, and remained on the line until the call-taker could confirm that a report was being initiated,” OPP spokeswoman Gosia Puzio wrote in an email to W5.
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In the statement, the OHL said it takes allegations of this nature “very seriously” but added it had no prior knowledge of the alleged sexual assault before Wednesday.
“The OHL recognizes the courage required for victims of sexual assault to come forward with their experiences, and would always desire to see justice served and perpetrators held to account,” the league said.
When reached for comment, an NHL spokesperson said, “The NHL is deeply troubled by any accusation of this nature. We have no information beyond what was in the media report from last night.”
(Photo: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)
