The alleged gang sexual assault by some members of Canada’s 2018 world junior hockey team has grown into a national scandal. Chris Young/The Canadian Press
EM, the woman who sued Hockey Canada over alleged gang sexual assault by some members of Canada’s 2018 world junior hockey team, says she has felt “vulnerable and exposed” since news of her allegations broke became public two months ago.
“It’s something I never wanted to draw attention to,” she said in a brief interview with The Globe and Mail on Monday. “I just wanted consequences for actions and some accountability.”
EM filed a claim on April 20, 2022. Hockey Canada settled the case by May 24, 2022, and two days later, news of that deal became public, something EM says it never wanted to happen.
The story has since become a national scandal. All the while, the woman, identified only as EM, remained silent, not wanting to fan the flames further.
“It was hard to see the facts told in pieces and not as a whole,” she told The Globe.
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Hockey Canada’s handling of her complaint became the subject of federal hearings and a renewed criminal investigation by the London Police Department. The National Hockey League launched its own investigation. Hockey Canada has resumed a previously passive independent review. And The Globe revealed the existence of the National Equity Fund, a special multimillion-dollar fund built through player registration fees that Hockey Canada uses to settle sexual assault cases.
Rob Tallach, EM’s lawyer, says it was disappointing as he watched coverage of his client’s complaint to see misinformation being spread that she was not cooperating with police. Some of that came from Canadian hockey.
When TSN first reported the settlement in May, hockey’s national governing body released a statement saying it learned of the allegations four years ago and hired law firm Henein Hutchison to investigate, but “the person making the allegations chose would not speak to either police or Hockey Canada’s independent investigator and also chose not to identify the players involved. It was her right and we fully respect her wishes.
But that’s not true, Mr. Tallaght said. EM cooperated back in 2018 and continues to cooperate today, he said. (Hockey Canada corrected its statement about the police after contacting Mr. Tallaght.)
In fact, as London Police recently renewed her complaint, EM met with detectives last week. And on Thursday, she took a private polygraph exam, the results of which were shared with The Globe.
Mr Tallaght says it was important for EM to take the polygraph because of recent suggestions that she had not been completely honest in her account of events.
The polygraph test, which was arranged and paid for by EM’s legal team, was administered by Zaya Lazar, a forensic polygraph examiner at Business of Truth Polygraph Services. According to a biography included in the polygraph report, Mr. Lazar was a police officer with the London Police Service from 1992 to 2014 and a police polygraph examiner from 2006 to 2011.
Mr. Lazar was provided with a summary of the case and a copy of EM’s statement. He then asked her if she had lied to him about her statement, if she had been misleading and if she had provided even one false bill. The document outlining the results of the exam indicates that the examiner found “that [E.M.] was sincere when she answered ‘No’ to the relevant questions.”
In Canada, polygraph results are not admissible as evidence of a person’s credibility in a criminal trial. EM’s true score would also not speak to the question of whether the hockey players honestly and reasonably believed she consented.
But in a case that has largely played out on the public stage, it is an additional layer of information that EM wants to contribute, Mr Tallaght said.
(The Globe reached out to attorneys representing some of the players Monday afternoon and did not receive a response.)
EM’s settlement agreement was reported to include a confidentiality clause. The details of what she is allowed to disclose are unknown, and neither she nor Mr. Tallaght would discuss the settlement or details of the alleged assault. However, her version of events is included in her claim.
In that document, which has not been tested in court, EM said that on June 18, 2018, she went to a bar in London. While there, she met up with one of the hockey players and some of his teammates who were in town for the Hockey Canada gala that took place earlier in the day. The player and his teammates gave her drinks and shots and she became increasingly intoxicated, the allegation said. At one point, she left the bar with the first player, returned to his hotel room, and began consensual sexual activity.
But then, the first player allegedly invited his teammates into the room without EM’s knowledge. She claims that a few hours later she was sexually assaulted and raped. In her lawsuit, EM said she was terrified and agreed to their pleas, sometimes crying and trying to leave, but then the players “directed, manipulated and intimidated” her into staying, the lawsuit alleges.
Two weeks ago, lawyers representing some of the players showed The Globe two videos recorded the night of the alleged attack. Lawyers say the footage shows the sex was consensual and that EM was not frightened, frightened or intoxicated as she claims. The first clip, shot at 3:25 a.m., is six seconds long and shows her from the neck up. A male voice can be heard saying, “Are you okay with that?”
“I’m fine with that,” EM replies.
In the second video, which was shot at 4:26 a.m., she covers herself with a towel in a hotel room: “Are you recording me?” she asks. “Okay. It was consensual. You’re so paranoid, holy. I enjoyed it, it was good. It was consensual. I’m so sober, so I can’t do this right now.”
When The Globe published the story, EM and Mr. Tallah declined to comment, but the fact that these details were made public filled her with horror, he said.
“Releasing the footage to the media could be seen by some as an attack on her credibility,” Mr Tallah said, adding that was part of the reason she wanted to take the polygraph test. “She wanted to go that extra step to do everything she could to establish that he was telling the truth.”
Mr. Tallah noted that the videos from the night were not evidence of consent — which in Canada must be given during sexual intercourse — and instead represented a moment in time that lacked the overall context of the evening.
“In my opinion, I think few people when ending a romantic endeavor feel the need to document their partner’s consent, unless one doubts the validity of that consent in the first place,” Mr Tallach said.
Lawyers for some of the players also presented a series of text messages to The Globe between EM and one of the players.
A little over a day after the incident, one of the players messaged EM to ask if she had gone to the police. According to these texts, EM told the player that her mother had called the police against her wishes.
“You said you were having fun,” the player wrote.
“I was very drunk, then I didn’t feel well at all. But I’m not trying to get anyone in trouble,” she replied. “I was good to go home with you, everyone else after that I didn’t expect. I just felt like I was being mocked and taken advantage of.”
He later replied: “You need to talk to your mum straight away and clear things up with the police before this gets too far. This is a serious issue that she misrepresents and could have significant consequences for many people, including you.
EM told the player that she had contacted the police, told them it was a mistake and that she did not want to pursue the complaint.
In fact, Mr. Tallaght said, EM spent several days considering his options but decided to move forward.
On June 22, EM went to London police headquarters and spoke to a detective. That same day, she went to the hospital for a physical and later gave her clothes from the night of the alleged assault to investigators. As early as June 24, she made it clear she wanted police to press charges and met with police again two days later, Mr Tallaght said. She spoke to police again in August 2018. Finally, in February 2019, she was told no charges would be filed.
Mr Talach says EM was not surprised by the development given how much time had passed, but it was a setback in her recovery and delayed her decision to file a civil case.
“When a victim takes a step, whatever the step is, and it’s unsuccessful — whether it’s telling a partner or going to the police — it just exponentially increases the delay until they act again,” he said, noting the three-year lag between of the initial police investigation and her case.
One thing EM won’t do is sit down for an interview with investigators from Hockey Canada or the NHL, Mr. Talach said.
“She provided an eight-page statement with an additional five pages of photographs and 4½ pages of text messages. She has already started civil proceedings and has spoken to the police several times. I mean how many times does he have to do that?” he said.
They also provided the polygraph to Hockey Canada and the NHL and will be sending it to the police as…
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