Alex Formenton reported himself to the police. He is one of the suspects in a sexual crime that happened in 2018.
Canada's the rape scandal that rocked hockey has taken a new turn. Now, for the first time, one of the suspects has become public, when a former NHL hockey player Alex Formenton reported to the police on Sunday.
Attorney at Formenton Daniel Brown the information was confirmed by the news agency for AP. Formenton, who previously represented the Ottawa Senators, currently plays in Switzerland.
“Alex is going to vigorously defend himself and his innocence. He asks that people not rush to make accusations until they hear all the evidence,” Brown said.
Brown did not respond to additional questions from the AP about the incident.
AP previously reported that the police have asked players involved in a suspected crime to report themselves to the police. Five people who were part of Canada's 2018 youth hockey national team are suspected of a sexual crime.
To the team of the players involved Michael McLeod, Cal Foote, Carter Hart, Dillion Dube and Formenton have been out of action for their teams during the past week.
Formenton, 24, is currently the only one who has said that he was involved in the events related to the alleged crime.
NHL club Calgary Flames announced Dube's absence due to mental health problems. The New Jersey Devils did not give a reason for the absences of McLeod and Foote.
The Philadelphia Flyers cited personal reasons for Hart.
On February 5, the police in London, Ontario, Canada, will hold a press conference where they will share more details about the investigation.
Brouhaha started when a woman filed a lawsuit against the Canadian Hockey Association in 2022. She claims eight young hockey players sexually assaulted her.
The alleged crimes took place in the summer of 2018. Some of the hockey players belonged to Canada's under-20 national team.
The Ice Hockey Federation settled the lawsuit. It was later revealed that the union had two secret “bribe funds” that were used to pay the costs of investigating the allegations.
Several of the federation's main sponsors cut off cooperation with the federation, and the Canadian government announced that it had frozen the federation's support for the time being.
The police and the NHL each launched their own investigation into the association's activities, but the conclusions of the investigation have not been made public so far.
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