Ex-NHL player Alex Formenton turned himself in to Canadian police on Sunday after he was charged in connection with a sexual assault accusation made in 2018, his legal team said.
Formenton, 24, who played for the NHL’s Ottawa Senators in 2017, took an indefinite leave of absence from Swiss Hockey Club Ambri-Piotta last Wednesday. His legal team did not comment on which charges Formenton faces from police in London, Ontario, but confirmed it was in relation to the 2018 allegation.
“Alex will vigorously defend his innocence and asks that people not rush to judgment without hearing all of the evidence,” Daniel Brown, one of the attorneys representing Formenton, said in a statement to NBC News on Tuesday.
In 2022, an Ontario woman sought $3.55 million in damages through a civil case against seven players from the 2018 team, alleging that they sexually assaulted and abused her, according to Ontario Superior Court of Justice record. The players in the suit were only identified as “John Doe.” The woman dropped the suit after reaching a settlement with the defendants in May 2022, according to her lawyer.
London Police on Tuesday declined to comment on the renewed investigation, but said they will host a press conference on to address public interest around the case on Monday.
Charges relating to the case have not been filed in the Ontario Court of Justice, a spokesperson for the court said on Tuesday. Police have until the day of the first court appearance to file the charges, a representative for the Ministry of the Attorney General said.
The charges come amid reporting last Wednesday from Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail that five members of the 2018 team were told to surrender to Ontario police. NBC News has not independently confirmed the number of players charged in the current investigation.
Four other NHL players who were also on the 2018 World Juniors team took indefinite leaves of absence amid reporting about the investigation: Michael McLeod and Cal Foote of the New Jersey Devils, Carter Hart of the Philadelphia Flyers and Dillon Dubé of the Calgary Flames.
The NHL said they would not comment yet on the charges against any of the players. Representatives from Hockey Canada and the Canadian Hockey League did not respond to a request for comment.
NBC News has not confirmed whether the four other players on leave are the ones who have been asked to surrender to police. Their agents did not respond to phone calls or emails about the investigation.