Text Messages & Video Clips Surface in Hockey Canada Lawsuit, Muddying an Already Murky Situation

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The sexual assault scandal casting a shadow over Hockey Canada was already a mess going into today, but as expected it is getting messier by the week. The other day, reports surfaced detailing the defense's case & confirmed that all eight players involved in the allegations will cooperate in the NHL's investigation:

Today, according to the Globe and Mail's Joe Friesen, one player named in the lawsuit reached out to the alleged victim only a day after the incident, asking if she went to the police. The woman responded by saying she had confided in her mother, who then reported the incident to the police against her wishes.

'You said you were having fun,' the unnamed player wrote in a text.

'I was really drunk, didn't feel good about it at all after. But I'm not trying to get anyone in trouble,' the woman responded.

She continued, 'I was ok with going home with you, it was everyone else afterwards that I wasn't expecting. I just felt like I was being made fun of and taken advantage of.'

The text message exchange went down just over a day removed from the alleged assault. They were submitted by lawyers for seven of the unnamed Canadian WJC players, and that was not all. Reportedly, two video clips were also submitted which lawyers say show the incident was consensual, and that the plaintiff was not fearful nor as intoxicated as initially reported.

The first video clip--six seconds in duration, recored at 3:25a on June 19, 2018--features the woman from the neck-up & a male voice asking if she is 'okay with this.'

'I'm okay with this,' she replied.

The next clip, recorded an hour later, shows the same woman covering herself with a towel in a hotel room.

'Are you recording me?' she asks. 'Ok, good. It was all consensual. You are so paranoid, holy. I enjoyed it, it was fine. It was all consensual. I am so sober, that's why I can't do this right now.'

This is a serious development in the case, as the alleged victim is on camera consenting twice AND she is friendly with one of the would-be perpetrators after the fact. It is not clear who filmed the video or why, but the footage could certainly be used to attack the complainant's credibility.

The lawyer for the alleged victim declined to comment, citing the ongoing investigations, although the woman did state in her initial statement in April of 2022 that she was told to iterate she was sober while on video.

The texts & videos were showed to Professor Elizabeth Sheehy, a leading expert on Canadian sexual assault-law. She suggests that videos like the ones in question are not fully effective in proving consent, simply due to the nature of consent; in Canada, it is only given at the time of the sexual activity – not before or after.

Sheehy also believes the videos could be used by the defense to suggest the players believed she had consented and that they took reasonable steps to ascertain her agreement, which could be a pivotal aspect of this case. Although, there are means of refuting the messaging in these videos. The Criminal Code clearly states consent is not obtained where the complainant submits through force, threats or fear of force, she said.

"In other words, if it can be proven she submitted by reason of fear of the seven men in the room, then she would not have given a valid consent in law,» Prof. Sheehy said. «The fact that she's still in the room with these men when she's making these statements is really important."

Lawyers for the seven unnamed players say their clients are willing to co-operate with the renewed Hockey Canada investigation but 'have yet to learn of the scope of procedures that will be employed.' The NHL has also launched its own investigation, as some of the players involved are currently playing on NHL contracts.

This case is ongoing, and we expect more & more information to surface in the coming weeks.

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