The whistleblower at the center of an alleged gang sexual assault that has rocked Canada’s sporting world says she has fully cooperated with a police investigation into her case, despite Hockey Canada initially saying she would not do.
The woman filed a $3.5 million lawsuit in April saying eight hockey players, including members of Canada’s world junior team, sexually assaulted, humiliated and degraded her in 2018 to a hotel room in London, Ontario.
The statement of claim, which has not been proven in court, said the hockey players brought golf clubs into the hotel room to further intimidate her, told the woman to take a shower after the sexual assault and was told she was sober while they recorded a video. consent video.
As first reported by the Globe and Mail Tuesday, the complainant’s attorney, Robert Talach, issued a statement saying his client made it clear to police in June 2018 that he wanted criminal charges to be pursued.
“This woman has engaged and fully cooperated with all legal and formal investigations surrounding these events,” Talach wrote in a statement shared with CBC News.
Hockey Canada made a statement in May which is still on their website which describes the complainant as uncooperative in the London police investigation.
“The person making the allegations chose not to speak with the police or Hockey Canada’s independent investigator and also chose not to identify the players involved,” said the statement that followed the TSN report about the case “That was his right and we fully respect his wishes.”
One month later, Hockey Canada later corrected that statement and said: “We later learned through his lawyer that he did in fact file a police report.”
The results of the lie detector tests are shared with the police
Talach said he believes Hockey Canada made an “honest mistake,” but the statement was continually reported in the media “over and over” and needed to be addressed.
“Previous media reports that she did not approach or cooperate with police were inaccurate,” Talach said in the statement.
He provided a number of new details about the case, including that his client spoke with a detective within days of the alleged sexual assault and was given a physical at a hospital.
Her client also gave her clothes to police for examination and met with officers on two other occasions that summer, Talach said. After seven months, he was told the investigation was closed and there would be no charges.
After an eruption of public outrage, London’s police chief announced last month that he would conduct an internal review to “determine what, if any, further avenues of inquiry exist”.
Talach said his law firm set up a polygraph test for the woman and she passed. The results have since been provided to police and investigators from Hockey Canada and the NHL, which launched its own investigation in May.
LOOK | Hockey Canada has paid 21 sexual conduct settlements since 1989
Hockey Canada has paid 21 sexual misconduct settlements since 1989
Hockey Canada officials revealed that the organization has paid nearly $9 million in settlements since 1989 to 21 people alleging sexual misconduct.
The whistleblower made a statement to the Hockey Canada investigator
Meanwhile, the well-known criminal defense law firm hired by Hockey Canada to investigate, Henein Hutchison, told a parliamentary committee last week that it closed its investigation because the whistleblower would not participate.
“I needed their version of events to advance my research,” Danielle Robitaille, partner and principal investigator at the firm, told MPs.
Robitaille said the whistleblower, along with nine hockey players, said they would not participate in the law firm’s investigation until the police investigation was complete.
“After the criminal proceedings were concluded, I focused my efforts on speaking with the complainant’s lawyer and trying to facilitate obtaining this statement so that I would be equipped to move forward with my investigation,” he said.
“After 18 months of those efforts not getting where I hoped, I have closed the investigation without prejudice to re-opening it at a later date.”
Robitaille said he concluded he should not interview the other players without first talking to the whistleblower.
Hockey Canada’s investigation was reopened last month amid intense public scrutiny, and it said it learned the woman would now make a statement. Sport Canada froze its funding and several high-profile sponsors, including Scotiabank, dropped their sponsorship deals.
The woman participated in the investigation by providing a “comprehensive written statement” to Hockey Canada and the NHL on July 21, according to Talach.
Talach confirmed his client will not sit for an interview with Hockey Canada or NHL investigators because he has already provided an eight-page statement, five pages of photos and 4.5 pages of text messages.
“We ask that their privacy continue to be respected and we thank the Canadian public for their concern,” Talach said in a statement.
Lawyer Danielle Robitaille, a partner at Henein Hutchison LLP, told a parliamentary committee in July that she closed her firm’s investigation in September 2020 “without prejudice to reopening it later” because the whistleblower refused to provide their account of what happened. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)
Legal expert says whistleblower may have feared ‘incredulous treatment’
Julie Macfarlane, a distinguished professor emeritus at the University of Windsor, said the complainant participating in the hockey organization’s investigations would lend credibility to the process.
He said Henein Hutchison is paid by Hockey Canada and known for his criminal defense work. Robitaille was co-counsel in the Jian Ghomeshi trial in 2014, in which the firm participated in cross-examination that separated the whistleblowers’ statements on the witness stand, Macfarlane said.
“The complainant here could reasonably assume that she would be subjected to the same incredulous treatment of this investigation,” Macfarlane said.
Hearing Hockey Canada and Henein Hutchison testify at a parliamentary committee last week, Macfarlane said, there was a “clear implication that somehow” the whistleblower “was at fault for not cooperating.”
“That given the disdainful and unfriendly treatment he has received from both the police and Hockey Canada, it seems designed only to once again protect Hockey Canada at his own expense,” MacFarlane said.
The whistleblower has signed a nondisclosure agreement (NDA) as part of her settlement that restricts what she can say publicly about the case. Prince Edward Island this year became the first province in Canada to limit the use of NDAs in sexual misconduct cases to prevent whistleblowers from being silenced.
Macfarlane is campaigning to end non-disclosures and said it’s possible the whistleblower could be asked to sign another one if interviewed by Hockey Canada or the NHL.
Robitaille told MPs he had not seen a copy of the NDA the whistleblower signed as part of her settlement agreement. Hockey Canada’s board of directors agreed to pay the claimant up to $3.5 million, the organization told MPs last week.
Got a story or news tip about the Hockey Canada scandal? Email ashley.burke@cbc.ca