Carter Hart testifies at hockey sexual assault trial

Content warning: This story includes allegations of sexual assault.

LONDON, Ont. — Carter Hart told court on Thursday that the sexual contact he had with the complainant at the centre of a sexual assault trial involving five former NHLers in 2018 was consensual.

Hart, only the second witness of the entire trial to take the stand in the courtroom, said that after a night of drinking in two London bars on June 18-19, 2018, he returned to the Delta Armouries hotel after receiving a text message in a group chat from Michael McLeod about joining a threesome with a woman.

“Did you go to Room 209 that night?” Hart was asked by his lawyer, Megan Savard. 

“Yes,” Hart said. 

“Did you see E.M. there?” Savard said. 

“Yes,” he responded. 

“Did you have sexual contact with her?” Savard asked. 

“Yes,” he responded. 

“Was it consensual?” 

“Yes.” 

Hart said he was single at the time and was “open to sexual encounters” while in London for the Hockey Canada gala event that took place over three days.

Hart said he got a call from McLeod after the text was sent about the threesome, “the gist was that Mike was with a girl back at the hotel who wanted to have sex with some of the boys.”

Hart also testified that shortly after he and the woman engaged in a sex act, he saw Cal Foote do the splits over the woman, known as E.M. because of a publication ban on using her name, but Foote was clothed and did not touch her when he did them.

“Guys thought it was pretty funny,” Hart told Savard. “I thought it was funny. I looked and saw that (E.M.) was laughing as well.”

Hart also testified that he first learned an investigation was being conducted into the events of June 18-19, 2018, when he was at Philadelphia Flyers development camp on the Jersey Shore. Once he was able to get access to his phone on June 26, 2018, he noticed he had 117 text messages from a group chat involving players from the 2018 world junior team.

He replied to the chain with, “Honestly boys nobody did anything wrong, like we got consent to anything that she did, she was the one begging for guys to bang her.”

Hart also testified that Alex Formenton, whom he walked back to the Delta with after being out at the bars, followed E.M. to the washroom to have sex and that E.M. and Formenton were holding hands.

Hart agreed with the suggestion from Hilary Dudding, one of Formenton’s lawyers, that Formenton was a “rule follower” and a “little bit shy.”

When asked by Dudding if Hart remembered any of the players in the room being “disrespectful” to E.M., he said, “no, never.”

“If something like that would have happened, I would have stopped or I would have left,” he said. “If something disrespectful or degrading happened, it’s not OK.”

He said if he had seen something degrading or disrespectful, he would’ve said, “Don’t do that” or “Stop” and left the room. He said he did not see anyone spit on E.M.

McLeod has been charged with two counts of sexual assault, including one relating to aiding in the offence. Dillon Dube, Foote, Formenton and Hart have each been charged with one count of sexual assault. All have pleaded not guilty to their charges.

Court ended on Wednesday with the Crown saying it might call another player as a witness, but assistant Crown attorney Meaghan Cunningham told court first thing Thursday morning that it was not going to call further witnesses and had closed its case.

The trial is set to complete its sixth week on Friday.