A group of hockey players was "shocked" when a woman asked if any of them would have sex with her in a London, Ont., hotel room seven years ago, one of them testified Wednesday at the sexual-assault trial of five of his former teammates.
Tyler Steenbergen recalled going to Michael McLeod's hotel room with Dillon Dube and another player after coming back from a downtown bar in the early hours of June 19, 2018, because they had heard there was food in the room.
Shortly after he arrived, Steenbergen heard someone say there was a "naked girl" in the bathroom, he said. "I was kind of shocked," he said, testifying by videoconference.
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Then the woman came out of the bathroom, laid down on a sheet on the floor and began masturbating, he said. "Can one of you guys come over and f--k me?" he testified the woman said.
"Everyone was kind of shocked," he said when asked to describe the mood in the room.
McLeod, Carter Hart, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dube and Callan Foote have pleaded not guilty to sexual assault. McLeod has also pleaded not guilty to an additional charge of being a party to the offence of sexual assault.
The Crown alleges McLeod, Hart and Dube obtained oral sex from the woman without her consent, and Dube slapped her buttocks while she was engaged in a sexual act with someone else.
Foote allegedly did the splits over her face and "grazed" his genitals on it without her consent. Formenton is alleged to have had vaginal sex with the complainant without her consent inside the bathroom.
In his testimony Wednesday afternoon, Steenbergen said that after the woman spoke, Hart walked over to her, pulled down his pants to his knees and received oral sex. Steenbergen said he couldn't recall how long it lasted, but estimated it was around 30 seconds to a minute.
When it stopped, the woman said something about how they were "pussies," he testified. McLeod then walked over and also received oral sex, he said.
Steenbergen, who is expected to continue testifying Thursday, said he couldn't recall if anything else was said in the room during that time.
The complainant has maintained that she has no memory of saying such things, which were put to her by defence lawyers during more than a week of cross-examination. Nor did the phrases sound like something she would say, she previously told the court.
If she did, the woman said, it would be an indication that she was out of her mind due to intoxication.
The complainant first met McLeod and some of his teammates at a downtown bar, court has heard. She was there for a night out with coworkers, while the players had come after a gala celebrating the team's championship win, court has heard.
The woman eventually left the bar with McLeod and went back to his hotel room, where they had sex, court heard. That encounter is not part of the trial.
The woman testified she was naked, drunk and scared when other men came into the room soon after and started talking about sexual acts they wanted her to do.
She felt herself disconnect from her body and engage in sexual acts while on "autopilot," she said, adding she felt she had no choice but to go along with it. When she cried and tried to leave, she said, someone would put an arm around her shoulders and coax her to stay.
The defence has suggested the complainant asked McLeod to call his friends into the room for some "fun," and actively participated in and at times instigated the sexual activity that followed.
Cross-examination ended Tuesday afternoon and the woman faced more questions from the prosecution Wednesday. Lawyers also spent part of the day arguing legal issues in the absence of the jury.
In total, the complainant spent nine days on the stand. She cannot be identified under a standard publication ban.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 14, 2025.
The Canadian Press
