Peel police investigating alleged 2014 sexual assault involving OHL players

A Peel Police shoulder patch is seen in Mississauga, Ont., on Saturday, July 1, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Arlyn McAdorey

Content advisory: This article includes allegations of sexual assault.

Peel Regional Police have confirmed they are investigating an alleged sexual assault involving eight former Ontario Hockey League players with the Mississauga Steelheads in 2014.

“Investigators from the Peel Regional Police Special Victims Unit are currently investigating this incident,” Constable Sarah Patten wrote in a March 3 email to TSN.

In October, CTV News reported the allegations of a woman, identified with her permission as Anne Marie, her middle name. Anne Marie, now 32, said her alleged assault took place in November of 2014.

The Steelheads moved to Brampton in June of 2024. Spokesmen for the Steelheads and the OHL did not respond to requests for comment.

Anne Marie first reported her alleged sexual assault to police in February of 2024.

Anne Marie said that when she was 22, she was in a consensual relationship with a 19-year-old player with the Steelheads for about six months when he invited her to watch TV with one of his teammates at his billet home, where he lived during the hockey season.

Anne Marie said that when she visited the player and went with him into the basement, eight players were there. After the 19-year-old player took her into the bathroom, they started fooling around, Anne Marie said, 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… And 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 she felt trapped and was assaulted for about 90 minutes. She said 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 she remembers players referring to each other by their nicknames.

“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 phoned a female friend while she was driving home and told her what had happened. CTV News independently contacted that woman, who corroborated her phone call in 2014 with Anne Marie.

The friend said she recalled Anne Marie telling her that she didn’t know whether she would contact police because some of the hockey players were 16 and had seemed to be pressured to take part in the assault by the 19-year-old player who invited her to the home.

Anne Marie said she did not tell her family what had happened until this year, after watching a 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 Juniors team.

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

“I just felt ashamed. I never told anyone because I thought it was my fault. I thought I was the one that was responsible because I had made the choice to go hang out with this guy and a buddy… It wasn’t until a couple of years ago that I had actually realized that it was sexual assault because I had pushed it so far out of my mind,” Anne Marie said.

“I did what I could to just forget it, not think about it, wipe it away. But it just built up inside in the back of my brain… So, it’s only been the past couple years that I’ve actually had the chance to name it and identify it and begin to understand it. And the worst part has been accepting what happened.”

Resources for sexual assault survivors in Canada

If you or someone you know is struggling with sexual assault or trauma, the following resources are available to support people in crisis:

• If you are in immediate danger or fear for your safety, you should call 911.
• A full list of sexual assault centres in Canada that offer information, advocacy and counselling can be found ​on the website for the Canadian Association of Sexual Assault Centres.
• Helplines, legal services and locations that offer sexual assault kits in Alberta, B.C., Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Quebec, Ontario and Nova Scotia can be found here.
• National Residential School Crisis Line: [phone]
• Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline: [phone]
• Trans Lifeline: [phone]
• Sexual misconduct support for current or former members of the Armed Forces: [phone]
• Read about your rights as a victim here. ​