‘I'm 19 years old and there's a naked girl in the room': Accused player Carter Hart testifies at Hockey Canada sex assault trial
If something 'disrespectful or degrading' happened while he was in a London, Ont., hotel room with a woman demanding to have sex with his teammates, Carter Hart says he would have stopped it or left.
'I can't see why I would have stayed in that room,' he testified Thursday, becoming the first accused player at the high-profile Hockey Canada sexual assault trial to take the stand in his own defence after the prosecution closed its case on Thursday.
Canada
The prosecution has closed. Here's how to understand the Crown's case in the Hockey Canada sex assault trial
The Crown completed its evidence at the Hockey Canada sex assault trial on Thursday morning. Here's what you need to know to catch up, starting
Canada
The prosecution has closed. Here's how to understand the Crown's case in the Hockey Canada sex assault trial
The Crown completed its evidence at the Hockey Canada sex assault trial on Thursday morning. Here's what you need to know to catch up, starting
Hart, Michael McLeod, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dubé and Cal Foote, all former members of the 2018 Canadian world junior championship team, have pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting the then-20-year-old woman in a room at the Delta Armouries hotel in the early hours of June 19, 2018. McLeod has also pleaded not guilty to being a party to a sexual assault for allegedly encouraging his teammates to engage in sexual activity with the woman when he knew she wasn't consenting.
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The complainant, whose identity is covered by a standard publication ban, had met McLeod at Jack's Bar and went back to his hotel where they had consensual sex, only for multiple members of the team to come in afterward, prompted by texts from McLeod.
Testifying over nine days, the woman alleged the men placed a bedsheet on the floor and asked her to fondle herself, to perform oral sex on them while she was slapped and spat on, and to engage in vaginal intercourse. While she never said no nor physically resisted, the woman said she adopted the 'persona' of a 'porn star' and engaged in the sexual activity as a coping mechanism while being in a room surrounded by men she didn't know.
Hart, who played as a goalie for the Philadelphia Flyers prior to his arrest, confirmed Thursday at the judge-alone trial under cross-examination by Formenton's lawyer, Hilary Dudding, that he never saw anyone spit on the complainant, nor mock or bully her, as she has testified. If he had: 'I would have said 'don't do that' or 'stop' or I would have just left.'
Players Alex Formenton and Carter Hart arrive back at the Delta Armouries hotel early on June 19, 2018, with teammate Rob Thomas.
Ontario Superior Court exhibit
What he did see when he entered McLeod's room after a night of drinking was a naked woman masturbating on a bedsheet on the floor, asking the players around her: 'Can somebody come f—- me?'
How were you feeling about that, Hart's lawyer, Megan Savard, asked him at the start of his testimony.
'Pretty excited,' said Hart, dressed in a burgundy suit and blue tie. 'I'm 19 years old and there's a naked girl in the room that was doing these things willingly. It was something I'd never seen before.'
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He said he believed most of the men didn't want to have sex with the woman because they had girlfriends. Hart himself wasn't open to having intercourse, so testified that he asked instead: 'Can I get a blowie?'
'Meaning blowjob,' he clarified in his testimony.
He said he recalled the woman saying something like 'yeah' or 'sure' as he walked toward her on the bedsheet, while she got up on her knees and moved toward him, grabbing his penis over the top of his pants and helping him to pull them down.
The oral sex lasted about 30 seconds to a minute, as Hart said he couldn't get erect and was starting to feel uncomfortable.
'It was just a weird thing,' he said. 'There were other guys in the room looking and I do remember making eye contact with somebody. It was just, like, weird.'
Hart maintained that his sexual contact with the complainant was consensual, and that he was in the room for about an hour.
Just prior to the start of Hart's testimony on Thursday, the prosecution closed its case, one that primarily relies on the testimony of the complainant. Given that she couldn't identify most of the men who engaged with her, including Hart, the Crown also relied on the testimony of other players in the room who were not accused of any wrongdoing, to put names to alleged actions. But those witnesses also ended up posing challenges for the Crown, such as player Brett Howden, who agreed with a defence suggestion that what he saw in the room was '100 per cent consensual.'
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A composite image of London police Det. Steve Newton's handwritten notes on the complainant's comments during a June 26, 2018, photo-identification interview.
Ontario Superior Court Exhibit
The world juniors were in London at the time to attend the Hockey Canada Foundation's annual Gala & Golf fundraising event and to receive their rings for winning the championship earlier that year. Hart's visit to McLeod's room was prompted by a text McLeod sent to a players' group chat just after 2 a.m. on June 19: 'Who wants to be in 3 way quick.' Hart replied within minutes: 'I'm in.'
He testified Thursday he also spoke to McLeod on the phone. 'I do remember the gist of the conversation was Mike was with a girl back at the hotel that wanted to have sex with some of the boys,' Hart testified.
'Boys meaning some of my teammates.'
McLeod himself will not be testifying at the trial, his lawyer David Humphrey confirmed in court Thursday, especially given the fact that the Crown already entered as evidence his video statement to police in 2018. In that interview, McLeod maintains that his sexual contact with the complainant was consensual and that she was demanding to have sex with players, and becoming upset when they wouldn't take her up on her offer. But McLeod also omits that he texted his teammates to come to his room for sexual activity.
It remains to be seen whether Formenton, Dubé, and Foote will testify. They are not required to, as the burden of proving a criminal charge always remains with the Crown.
Aside from the oral sex allegation against Hart, the Crown has also alleged that McLeod had intercourse with the woman a second time in the bathroom; Formenton separately had intercourse with her in the bathroom; McLeod and Dubé obtained oral sex; Dubé slapped her naked buttocks, and Foote did the splits over her body and his genitals 'grazed' her face.
Hart testified he didn't witness most of what the Crown is alleging; he confirmed he didn't see anyone slap the complainant. He also recalled the woman and Formenton holding hands as they made their way to the bathroom.
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'She was the one, not dragging him, but leading him into the bathroom,' he said.
And he recalled Foote doing the splits over the woman's body while she was lying on the sheet on the floor between the two beds, but said Foote was clothed and that he didn't touch her body.
Hart explained that the splits were a 'pretty cool thing' that Foote was able to do upon request; surveillance footage shows he did the splits on the dancefloor at Jack's earlier that night. Men in the hotel room were egging him on to do it again, Hart said.
'Like hey Footer, do the splits,' Hart said. 'That was just kind of a thing he did. He's a big, tall dude, super flexible.'
He said everyone was laughing after Foote did the splits over the complainant — 'and I looked and I saw (the complainant) was laughing as well.'
Cal Foote does the splits at Jack's Bar in London on the night of June 18-19, 2018, while teammates Brett Howden (on the far side of Foote, in white with a lighter-coloured backwards ball cap) and Dillon Dubé (in white on the near side of Foote) clear space on the dance floor.
Ontario Superior Court exhibit
Days later, on June 26, 2018, fear and panic set in among the team after they learned that Hockey Canada was looking into reports of an alleged sexual assault in the hotel room. They furiously texted each other back and forth in a group chat entered as evidence at the trial, with McLeod emphasizing that they should tell the truth and not make anything up.
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'Honestly boys nobody did anything wrong,' Hart chimed in from Philadelphia, where he was at hockey development camp. 'Like we got consent to anything that she did, she was the one begging guys to bang her.'
Savard asked her client for his understanding of the purpose of the text thread.
'I thought everybody was just telling the truth,' he said. 'Like there's nothing to hide, that we're just agreeing to tell the truth.'
Messages from Carter Hart, in blue, from the player's group chat on June 26, 2018.
Ontario Superior Court exhibit
London police initially declined to lay charges in 2019 after the lead investigator wondered whether the complainant had been an 'active participant' in the room; Hockey Canada also shut down its probe after the complainant refused to participate.
Both the organization and the police force reopened their investigations in 2022 amid intense public pressure after Hockey Canada settled, for an undisclosed sum, a $3.5-million sexual assault lawsuit filed by the complainant against the organization and eight unnamed John Doe players. The five men on trial were charged in 2024.
Hockey Canada didn't tell the players of their intention to settle, nor that a claim had even been filed. Hart was playing tennis with his best friend when he found out.
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Canada
Why didn't police lay charges in 2019? Inside the London police investigations in the Hockey Canada sex assault case
London police documents make clear the high-profile sex assault investigation was reopened in 2022 due to 'a resurgence in media attention' — with
Canada
Why didn't police lay charges in 2019? Inside the London police investigations in the Hockey Canada sex assault case
London police documents make clear the high-profile sex assault investigation was reopened in 2022 due to 'a resurgence in media attention' — with
'I'll never forget the day,' he testified. 'I received a phone call from my agent telling me that Hockey Canada had settled on behalf of us without our knowledge or consent to the complainant, and that Hockey Canada was going to be reopening their investigation, and the police.'
And so Hockey Canada never told you about this lawsuit, Savard pressed her client.
'No, I had been asked to even play for Team Canada that year,' Hart said. 'I had no idea.'
Crown attorney Meaghan Cunningham will begin cross-examining Hart on Friday morning.
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