Investigator hired to look into group sexual assault allegations involving 2003 World Junior players
Warning: This story contains erotic details that may upset the reader
Hockey Canada is covering the costs of a third-party investigator hired to look into allegations that a group of men on the World Youth hockey team in 2003 sexually assaulted a woman in Canada. Halifax in a tournament nearly two decades ago.
As part of Hockey Canada’s stated plan to tackle “malicious” behavior on and off the ice, they have created a new “independent third-party” system for responding to complaints of violence. sexual force.
That new system hired Ottawa-based attorney and sports investigator Jennifer White to find out what happened in 2003.
“My duty is to provide factual findings on the allegations and determine whether there is a violation of any applicable Canadian Hockey policies,” White wrote in an email to CBC News.
White’s website says she specializes in police affairs and is retained by organizations to provide factual results on allegations of inappropriate behavior.
Canadian hockey has been under intense public scrutiny since May over its handling of sexual assault allegations. The federal government has frozen foundation funding, major donors have stopped supporting it, and a congressional committee is holding public hearings on the matter.
A man reported watching a video of alleged 2003 sexual assault told CBC News it showed two players entering a hotel room where about six other players were standing naked and masturbating around a drunk woman while one entered her.
TSN first reported on the video and spoke to two other sources who said they had seen the footage.
Team Canada went to Halifax in early January 2003 for the final; it took home a silver medal. Almost all of the players on its star roster have played in the NHL, and some have had long careers there.
Halifax police are also investigating. CBC News recently reported that Halifax police have been given the names of at least two members of the team allegedly involved and who have gone on to play in the NHL.
Warning: This story contains erotic details that may upset the reader. Disturbing details have emerged about a group of alleged sexual assaults by several members of Canada’s 2003 World Juniors hockey team. A man who recently provided Halifax police with the names of two players who may have been involved said he watched a recording nearly 20 years ago of the alleged incident.
White said her mission included finding out what Hockey Canada knows and the steps to respond. White is writing a report for the hockey organization’s independent third party (ITP), which has kept her, she said.
Hockey Canada says that, to make “the process as independent as possible,” it maintains a custody agreement only with the ITP, led by attorney and trial investigator Erin Durant and private practice attorney Brian Ward top.
Durant and Ward acted as case managers and hired investigators to look into the cases, Hockey Canada said.
Hockey Canada spokesman Spencer Sharkley said in an email to CBC News: “Hockey Canada has no say in the selection of investigators and reimbursement of the ITP for the investigator’s costs.
The crime defense company’s separate investigation is underway
Outside of this new system, Hockey Canada is paying directly for a separate investigation by prominent crime defense firm Henein Hutchison into allegations of a separate sexual assault group in London, Ont. concerning the members of the World Junior 2018 team.
The Canadian hockey publicity scandal erupted in May after it settled a A woman’s $3.5 million lawsuit who accused eight hockey players, including members of the 2018 World Junior team, of sexually assaulting her. She alleges that, in 2018, players threatened her, asked her to shower after allegedly sexually assaulting her, and instructed her to claim she was sober while they videoed her consent. Her allegation was not proven in court.
Hockey Canada phoned Henein Hutchison for legal advice in 2018 after learning of the allegations and was advised to report the matter to the police who, according to the law firm, testified before a congressional committee .
The hockey organization then withheld that law firm for $287,000 to investigate allegations of sexual assault and identify any policy issues, Hockey Canada told the congressional committee.
While Canadian Hockey is covered against sexual assault allegations, it maintains its own reserve fund – made up of a portion of hockey players’ registration fees – to pay the allegations that they don’t want through their insurance company.
Ottawa Attorney Paul Champ tweeted that this approach keep the allegations quiet and don’t let Hockey Canada experience a “defense investigative and takeover insurance company.” Hockey Canada executives said the organization did what they thought was best for the woman involved.
Hockey Canada officials revealed the organization has spent nearly $9 million in settlements since 1989 for 21 people accused of sexual misconduct.
Sports Minister Pascale St-Onge told CBC’s House last week that athletes told her they did not “completely trust” investigations conducted by third parties if they were directly paid for by national sports organizations. Athletes feel “as if the process isn’t independent enough,” she says.
In response, the federal government set aside $16 million over three years to create the Office of the Sports Integrity Commissioner to address abuse in sport. The office, which opened at the end of June, is tasked with independently overseeing the process of receiving complaints, conducting preliminary investigations, and maintaining a database of sanctions.
The office must now deny claims related to Hockey Canada as the organization has yet to formally sign off with the integrity commissioner.
White is also on a list of investigators who may be hired to investigate cases by the integrity sports commissioner.
The Commissioner is contracted for investigative work and currently has a provisional roster of 12 investigators. The office said it plans to expand that list and roll out the permanent list later this month.
White was also on the New Brunswick Police Commission’s investigator list and was part of that province’s sex crime task force. She is also on the list of investigators of the Sports Dispute Resolution Center of Canada, according to her website.
