Halifax police continue investigation into sexual assault allegations related to 2003 WJC team

[Coconuts]

https://www.tsn.ca/hockey-canada/halifax-police-continue-investigation-into-sexual-assault-allegations-on-2003-world-junior-team-1.2016482

 

Content Warning: The following article contains references to sexual assault.

 

The Halifax Regional Police continue to investigate a historical sexual assault that is alleged to have occurred in the city during the 2002-03 World Juniors tournament and involved multiple members of Canada’s team, a police spokesman said.

“The matter remains under investigation,” Constable Nicolas Gagnon wrote to TSN in an email on Wednesday.

A person familiar with the matter told TSN that Halifax police have committed “significant” resources to the investigation and have continued in recent weeks trying to contact witnesses who may have information to share about the allegations.

On July 22, 2022, Halifax police said they would investigate allegations about the 2003 World Juniors team after Conservative MP John Nater, then a member of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, told TSN he planned to ask Hockey Canada to respond to allegations that more than a half-dozen players on the team were recorded during the tournament sexually assaulting a woman who was naked and non-responsive.

Nater, who represents the southwestern Ontario riding of Perth-Wellington, said he spoke with a source who said they viewed a six- or seven-minute video of the alleged incident in the spring of 2003, several months after the tournament was held in Halifax.

The source who contacted Nater works in the hockey industry and said the video began with a Team Canada player standing outside of a room, answering questions as if he were doing a pre-game interview with the person holding the camera, who is not identified.

TSN independently interviewed the source who contacted Nater and corroborated their account with two additional sources, including the owner of the video camera used to film the alleged incident. The sources requested anonymity because they said they fear recriminations.

The player told the camera operator that viewers were about to see "a f---ing lamb roast,” the three sources said.

The video shows roughly a half-dozen players taking turns assaulting a woman who was non-responsive and lying face up on a pool table, the sources said.

Two of the three sources told TSN they were interviewed by Halifax police in late 2022. The third source did not respond to questions about whether they were cooperating with the investigation.

[Canuck Surfer]

[Elias Pettersson]

So, 20 years later they are still investigating 2003.  I guess we will get some updated news on 2018 in around 15 years...

[Warhippy]

Meanwhile Babcock is one and done in like 36 hours and 14 minutes for asking or demanding to look through players' phones.

 

Kind of...disgusting really what motivates players/enforcement vs what gets kicked down the road and dragged out as long as possible

[wai_lai416]

well it's a players driven league what do you expect.. of coz they'll take their sweetass time to drag this out and protect the player.. even if the players are eventually exposed and suspended or kicked out of the league? well they already made their millions so not that big of a deal for them not the end of the world.. they can easily survive on couple million in their bank.. it's not like the league or team canada will sue them.. and the women already settled.. so they'll be sitting pretty with all their money even if they are kicked out of the league albeit with a tarnished name.. nothing a legal name change can't fix.