Warning: The following story contains discussions of sexual assault.
Taylor Raddysh testifed on Wednesday in the sexual assault trial of five of his former teammates from the 2018 Canadian World Juniors team, per CBC News.
Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dube, and Callan Foote have all been charged with sexual assault, with McLeod facing an additional charge as a party to the offense, stemming from an alleged incident after a June 2018 Hockey Canada event. All five players have pled not guilty.
Raddysh, who became the first player to appear as a witness in the trial, does not face charges in the case. Per Sportsnet, he appeared in court via video from MedStar Capitals Iceplex.
His testimony included that he was at a bar with his teammate and the complainant in the case — a woman identified as E.M. in court documents — on the night of the alleged assault. He later entered the hotel room of McLeod and Boris Katchouk (another member of the 2018 World Juniors team) for “a very short time” and saw a woman present.
TSN’s Rick Westhead, CBC’s Kate Dubinski, and Sportsnet’s Paul D. Grant reported that Raddysh frequently said he could not remember details of the night, though he did confirm he received and later screenshotted texts sent to the team group chat.
Though the alleged assault occurred in 2018, it did not garner widespread attention until May 2022, when Westhead reported that Hockey Canada had quietly settled a lawsuit with the E.M. Hockey Canada re-opened their investigation after Westhead’s report and received significant criticism for their handling of the incident. The five players were charged in January of 2024 and the trial began on Monday.
Raddysh finished testimony for the day before 4 pm, per CBC, with the judge in the case noting Raddysh had a “commitment” that kept him from staying longer — almost certainly Game 5 of the Washington Capitals and Montreal Canadiens’ first-round playoff series. With Aliaksei Protas returning from injury, Raddysh was named a healthy scratch for Game 5. He will resume testifying at 10 am on Thursday.
If you or someone you know is in need of support, the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network has compiled a list of resources for survivors of sexual assault and their loved ones.
