Agent says former World Junior player unsure of what he witnessed in London hotel room

TSN Senior Correspondent

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

A player on Canada’s 2018 World Juniors hockey team who was present in a London, Ont., hotel room at the time of an alleged sexual assault told police during their initial investigation he was not a participant in what transpired and left the room unsure of what he had witnessed, the player’s agent told TSN in an interview.

The agent said his client was invited by another player to come to a room in the Delta London Armouries Hotel early in the morning of June 19, 2018.

“My guy got a text message from one of his teammates that there was a party going on with pizza, so he went up to the room,” the agent said. “He did not know how to process what was going on when he saw what was happening in the room. He did not know if this was consensual group sex or if it was a sexual assault.

“It’s true that he did not intervene and say stop. You can judge him for not intervening. What would you do in the same situation when you were a teenager? Is this something he should lose his career and reputation over?”

The agent, who requested anonymity to protect the identity of his client, said the player left the room after about 10 minutes.

The player was interviewed by London police in late 2018 after a woman alleged she was sexually assaulted on June 19, 2018, in a hotel room by eight hockey players – at least some of whom were members of Canada’s 2018 World Juniors team. While London police closed the case without filing charges in February 2019, they have since reopened the investigation.

The agent said London detectives are now making plans for in-person interviews with players who were in the city for the Hockey