The Peel Regional Police are investigating allegations of sexual assault made by a woman against eight former Ontario Hockey League players, the department confirmed to The Athletic on Wednesday. The alleged incident, which the woman said occurred in 2014, first became public in October following an interview with the woman by the CTV News program “W5.”
TSN first reported the news of the police investigation.
The woman, who said she was 22 at the time, told “W5” that she was in a relationship with a 19-year-old player on the Mississauga Steelheads (now the Brampton Steelheads) who invited her to watch TV with another teammate at a billet home, a family home that houses players from out of town who are playing on the local team for the season. She said that the player took her to a bathroom and initiated sexual acts, and that what began as a consensual encounter turned into group sexual assault involving eight players ranging from ages 16 to 19.
None of the players who allegedly participated in the attack have been publically named, and reports have protected the identity of the woman.
According to “W5”, the woman attempted to report what happened in February of 2024, but the Ontario Provincial Police acknowledged that an employee did not follow proper protocol by ensuring that the woman was connected to the correct jurisdiction for her to make a report.
“We can confirm that the civilian call-taker provided the victim with the contact information for the police service of jurisdiction to facilitate their report. However, standard operating procedures state that the call-taker should have personally connected the caller to the police service of jurisdiction, and remained on the line until the call-taker could confirm that a report was being initiated,” OPP spokeswoman Gosia Puzio wrote in an email to “W5.”
The Athletic has reached out to the OHL and the Steelheads for comment. The OHL said in October that it would cooperate with any future investigations.
Required reading
(Photo: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)
