海角社区官网

Dub茅, Alex Formenton, Michael McLeod, Carter Hart and Cal Foote have pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting the then-20-year-old woman in the room at the Delta Armouries hotel in London, Ont., in the early hours of June 19, 2018.听

Shortly after the slap, Steenbergen said he 鈥減artially鈥� saw teammate Cal Foote do the splits over the woman while she was lying on the ground between two beds. He wasn鈥檛 able to see fully because other people were in his line of sight. The Crown has alleged that Foote鈥檚 genitals 鈥済razed鈥� the woman鈥檚 face, but Steenbergen said he couldn鈥檛 see whether Foote was fully clothed or not.听

鈥淛ust like legs apart, I think, I don鈥檛 know how else to describe the splits,鈥� Steenbergen testified via Zoom under questioning by Crown attorney Heather Donkers. 鈥淗e went down and I couldn鈥檛 see anything from there ... Because he鈥檚 tall, I could see his head.鈥�

In the following days, on June 26, the players learned that Hockey Canada was probing reports of the woman being sexually assaulted. Steenbergen said he received phone calls from Dub茅 and Foote asking that he not mention what he witnessed when speaking with lawyers from 海角社区官网law firm Henein Hutchison, who were conducting a third-party investigation for Hockey Canada.听

They told him they wanted to tell the investigators themselves what they did, Steenbergen testified. He said he would have discussed what he saw had the lawyers brought up either Dub茅 or Foote, but they didn鈥檛.听

鈥淪o I just thought I would let them be able to explain it to them themselves,鈥� he testified.听

The jury has heard that the woman met McLeod at Jack鈥檚 Bar and returned to his room, where they had consensual sex. Multiple men began showing up in the room afterward following a group chat text from McLeod, which the defence has argued was the complainant鈥檚 idea, something she has strenuously denied.听

Aside from the slap and the splits, the Crown has also alleged that McLeod had intercourse with the complainant a second time in the hotel room鈥檚 bathroom; that Formenton separately had intercourse with the complainant in the bathroom; and that McLeod, Hart, and Dub茅 obtained oral sex from the woman.听

Steenbergen began testifying late Wednesday, saying that after getting back to the hotel late from the bar, he went to McLeod鈥檚 room under the impression there was food inside. But as he was sitting at the desk in the room, he said he heard someone say, 鈥淕uys, there鈥檚 a naked girl in the bathroom,鈥� and shortly after she came out into the room.听

Steenbergen testified that she got down on a bedsheet on the floor, masturbating and asking players to have sex with her.听

鈥淪he said, 鈥楥an one of you guys come over and f-鈥�-鈥�- me?鈥欌�� Steenbergen testified.听

And that鈥檚 when Hart approached her and received oral sex for about 30 seconds to a minute, Steenbergen testified.听

Once Hart stopped, the woman said something along the lines of, 鈥淥h, you guys are being pussies,鈥� Steenbergen said, which is when he remembers teammate McLeod also receiving oral sex from the woman.

Steenbergen鈥檚 testimony began immediately after the complainant in the case completed a marathon nine days of testimony Wednesday afternoon, in which she alleged it was the players who put the bedsheet on the floor and asked her to fondle herself on it, as well to perform oral sex on them while she was slapped and spat on, and to have vaginal intercourse.听

While she never said no to the sexual acts and didn鈥檛 physically resist, the woman testified that she went into 鈥渁utopilot鈥� mode as her mind had separated from her body, and she was just engaging in the sexual activity as a way of protecting herself in a room full of men she didn鈥檛 know. She said she adopted a 鈥減orn star persona鈥� as a coping mechanism.听

It was put to the complainant during cross-examination last week that she had been demanding sex from the players, and had made the 鈥減ussies鈥� comment, but she said she didn鈥檛 recall: 鈥淭hat doesn鈥檛 even sound like how I would usually speak.鈥�

Testifying Thursday, Steenbergen said he was waiting for a 鈥渃lear path鈥� to leave the hotel room, noting he had a girlfriend at the time who is now his wife. Having been in the room for about 15 minutes, he finally left with his hotel roommate and teammate Jake Bean when the woman got up from the floor and went to the bathroom following the splits.听

鈥淚 just didn鈥檛 want to step over a naked girl,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 was trying to avoid the situation and when there was a clear path to leave, that鈥檚 when we decided to leave.鈥澨�

Group chat messages entered into evidence

A flurry of text messages, entered into evidence Thursday, were sent between the players in a group chat after they found out about the Hockey Canada probe on June 26, 2018.听

鈥淲e all need to say the same thing if we get interviewed can鈥檛 have different stories or make anything up,鈥� McLeod texted.听

Bean concurred, writing: 鈥淣o one did anything wrong. We went to that room to eat. The girl came, she wanted to have sex with all of us. No one did. She gave a few guys head, and then we got out of the room when things got too crazy.鈥�

Dub茅 noted that 鈥渢he boys who did things got consent so just tell them that and it鈥檚 fine.鈥澨�