'Consent videos' a focus of ex-world junior hockey players' trial — but does such evidence stand up in court?

WARNING: This article references sexual assault and may affect those who have experienced​ ​​​sexual violence or know someone affected by it.

The sexual assault trial of five former Canadian world junior hockey players in London, Ont., centres on the issue of consent — what it is and what it is not.

Michael McLeod, Dillon Dubé, Carter Hart, Cal Foote and Alex Formenton are each accused of sexually assaulting the then 20-year-old woman, known as E.M. under a standard publication ban, in June 2018. McLeod faces a second charge of being a party to the offence. All the accused have pleaded not guilty. 

The Crown's case focuses on the issue of consent, and includes two short videos of E.M. that were taken by McLeod and presented as evidence at the trial.

But CBC News spoke to experts who said that even after the #MeToo movement, the concept of consent isn't always understood and some people are putting misplaced trust in videos mentioning it.

Kaitlynn Mendes is a sociology professor who holds the Canada Research Chair in inequality and equity at London's Western University. She also researches technology-facilitated sexual violence.

"Consent is something that can only really happen in the moment.… Consent has to be ongoing. It's something that can be withdrawn at any point," said Mendes.

For example, she said, if someone has consented to having sex with one person and a second person enters the room, or they want to change acts, the participants need to get consent, in the moment, for everything that's happening.  

"That's really the only case in which these videos, I think, could really stand up," said Mendes, who also acknowledged recording a video in the moment of sexual activity isn't so straightforward to do.

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