It may still be a long time before the trials of the horrendous case begin.
Canada's On Monday, the police in London, Ontario, held a news conference about the rape scandal, in which five players from the country's 2018 youth national hockey team are accused.
Four NHL players are accused – Cal Foote, Carter Hart, Dillon Dube and Michael McLeod – and playing in Switzerland Alex Formenton. They all surrendered to the police, and an agreement has since been made with them, based on which they could be released, the London police said at the event.
The case ended up on the desk of the justice of the peace for the first time on Monday, before the press conference. He adjourned the hearing of the case to April 30.
The hearing was the first of many stages in the preliminary hearing of the case. Local media of the London Free Press according to which the trials may not start until 2026.
None of the players were present at the London courthouse on Monday, reports the London Free Press.
Read more: NHL players are suspected of having done monstrous things to a woman in a hotel room – Canadian hockey's hidden secret was soon revealed
At the press conference in the voice were mainly the chief of police Thai Truong and a crime station constable Katherine Dunn. They answered several questions from reporters by complaining that they could not comment on them.
Dann made it clear that no more charges will be filed in the case being discussed. He said that the players of the 2018 team were willing to cooperate “on a varying level”.
Truong apologized several times for the victim's suffering and the time it took to process the case. The victim reported the rape to the police already in 2019, but at that time the investigation did not lead to anything. Now, according to the police, there is more evidence.
As reporters took turns asking questions, which were answered by the police officers, Truong interrupted the flow of questions as soon as one of the reporters opened his mouth.
“Excuse me, I would like to say something in between. This incident has nothing to do with the Canadian Hockey Association,” he began.
“I want you to understand that for us this is an investigation involving a victim of sexual violence. Women face a lot of sexual violence worldwide, and one of the complexities we need to focus on is how we act as a society,” Truong said.
With his comment, he apparently referred to the fact that in several questions, the point of view seemed to be that the deed was done by top hockey players. Consequently, the problem itself, i.e. rape, received less attention.
“I'm not a hockey player, and I don't know anything about hockey. This is an investigation into sexual harassment,” he stressed.
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