Former Flyers goalie Carter Hart testifies in Hockey Canada sexual assault trial
Hart, who is one of five Canadian hockey players charged, took the stand in his own defense and recounted his memories from the incident in 2018.
The Hockey Canada sexual assault trial continued Thursday in London, Ontario, with Carter Hart taking the stand in his own defense after the Crown (plaintiff) finished presenting its case earlier in the day.
The former Flyers goalie, alongside Alex Formenton, Cal Foote, Dillon Dubé, and Michael McLeod, make up the five Canadian World Junior team members accused of sexually assaulting a woman in a London hotel room in June 2018. All five have pleaded not guilty.
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According to one of the media outlets present in the London courtroom, TSN, the 26-year-old Hart testified that he was called and invited by McLeod to McLeod’s room in the early hours of June 19. This came after several members of the team went to a local bar following a Hockey Canada banquet.
Hart said he was “probably pretty drunk” after consuming several drinks throughout the evening.
“The gist was Mike was with a girl back at the hotel who wanted to have sex with some of the boys,” Hart testified about the call, according to TSN. “I was open to sexual encounters. A single guy, I was having a good time that weekend. I was open to it.”
Hart’s comments in court came after previous testimony during the trial about McLeod sending a group text to his Canada teammates inviting them to his room: “For a 3 way quick.”
McLeod, who is charged with two counts of sexual assault, the second for being a “party to the offense,” or aiding a sexual assault, reportedly declined his opportunity to testify Thursday before Hart took the stand.
The woman, then 20, said she had consensual sex with McLeod, but that he later invited his teammates into the room without her consent, and that several of them sexually assaulted her over several hours.
Hart testified Thursday that the woman masturbated in front of players and “seemed to be enjoying it.”
Hart said she then asked the players to have sex with her, and that he asked her for oral sex, and she agreed.
At one point, he said, he texted another teammate to “get to” the hotel room, saying he did so because that teammate “was one of the only other guys on the team at the time who was single.”
While Hart testified that he saw Formenton and the woman go into the bathroom together, he said he did not witness any sexual contact between the woman and Foote, McLeod, or Dubé.
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He testified that as many as eight men were in McLeod’s hotel room and that he did not witness anyone degrade or treat the woman disrespectfully.
“Is that something that would have stood out to you?” Formenton’s lawyer Hilary Dudding asked when cross-examining Hart.
“If something like that would have happened, I would have stopped, I would have left,” Hart answered.
Hart was also asked about a group chat that began on June 26, 2018, in which players discussed what to do if questioned by Hockey Canada or the police.
“We all need to say the same thing if we get interviewed,” McLeod wrote to the group at 8:09 p.m. “Can’t have different stories or make anything up.”
Hart testified that he first viewed the long string of messages while in New Jersey for development camp with the Flyers. He said he and McLeod talked on the phone afterward.
“I wanted to confirm if it was Hockey Canada or police or both who were doing an investigation,” Hart said.
Hart, who took a leave of absence from the Flyers in January 2024 before being charged, is no longer under contract with the team. Drafted by the Flyers in 2016, he played six seasons and 227 games with the team and is currently a free agent.
Court adjourned on Thursday after the Crown’s attorney, Meaghan Cunningham, asked for time to prepare to cross-examine Hart. Hart is expected to be cross-examined on Friday.