After years of legal cases and investigations, London police are reportedly ready to make arrests in the 2018 Hockey Canada sex assault case.
The Globe and Mail is reporting five players have been "given a set period of time to present themselves at London Police headquarters."
In 2018, a woman reported she was sexually assaulted by a group of players from the Canadian World Junior team, after a gala event in London to honour their gold medal win earlier in the year.
London police investigated the assault and closed the case in 2019 without charges.
However, the case was reopened after news of a civil settlement between the victim and Hockey Canada was uncovered by TSN in June of 2022.
That story set off a chain of events that impacted hockey from coast to coast, which wound up with board members resigning and staff leadership being replaced following an embarrassing series of appearances before politicians on Parliament Hill.
All this happened while London police said they had reopened their investigation and the National Hockey League said it had launched one of its own.
London police have not released the names of the five players involved and Acting Sergeant Sandasha Bough declined to comment when reached by London News Today.
Police did confirm a news conference will be held next month to provide more information about the sexual assault investigation.
"We understand that there is significant public interest in relation to a sexual assault investigation dating back to 2018," police said in a statement issued late Wednesday afternoon. "While we are unable to provide an update at this time, we anticipate that the London Police Service will hold a press conference on Monday, February 5, 2024 to share further details."
