Woman details alleged sexual assault involving eight former OHL players

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Peel Regional Police confirmed on Wednesday that they are investigating an alleged sexual assault involving eight former Ontario Hockey League players.

A woman, who was identified by TSN as Anne Marie (Marie being her middle name), claims she was assaulted by members of the Mississauga Steelheads in 2014.

“Investigators from the Peel Regional Police Special Victims Unit are currently investigating this incident,” Const. Sarah Patten told TSN in an email.

TSN/CTV had first reported the allegations in October and, at the time, the OHL said it was taking the allegations “very seriously” and would co-operate with any police investigation.

WARNING: Explicit sexual details

Anne Marie, who first reported the alleged incident to police in February 2024, told TSN it took place in the basement of her then-boyfriend’s billet home after she had been invited over to watch TV in November 2014.

Anne Marie, who was 22 at the time, had been in a consensual relationship with a 19-year-old player on the Steelheads for about six months. She said that when she arrived, eight players were there.

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She claims that the 19-year-old player took her into the bathroom and they started fooling around, adding that what began as a consensual act became a group sexual assault.

“I was taken into a bathroom,” she said. “And that’s when the player who invited me over began having sex with me — starting sexual acts. They never closed the bathroom door fully … then next thing I know, more players start coming in. There’s players standing and watching. They start taking their turns, doing whatever it is they want.”

Anne Marie said that she was assaulted for about 90 minutes while feeling trapped and that she froze and “pretty much blacked out.”

“You’re stuck in the basement with eight junior hockey players,” she said. “Trapped in a corner, literally in the far back room of a basement.”

She said that she tried to get out at the first “clear” opportunity, but that only came after every player had “taken a turn.”

“Pretty quickly it got to the point where I just tried to take my mind somewhere else and tried not even to make eye contact,” she said. “I waited for the first clear out available, which was pretty much after everyone had taken a turn, some more than once. I was brought into the shower. And after that, I felt like I had a chance to get the hell out.”

Anne Marie said she did not tell her family what had happened until watching a 2024 press conference in which London’s chief of police apologized to a different woman who was allegedly sexually assaulted by a number of players on Canada’s 2018 world junior team.

In that case, five former Team Canada players are awaiting trial on sexual assault charges that is set to begin April 22.

Spokesmen for the Steelheads – which moved from Mississauga to Brampton last year — and the OHL did not immediately respond to requests for comment from CTV/TSN.