Lawsuit filed against four ex-OHL players over alleged group sexual assault: Report

A lawsuit has been filed in an Ontario, Canada court stemming from an alleged incident of sexual abuse dating to 1984 involving numerous players from the Ontario Hockey League club, the Windsor Spitfires.

A report of the lawsuit’s filing was published in The Athletic on March 27. The piece detailed the most relevant allegations by the victim, a 59-year-old female identified only as “Jane Doe” per court documents. In her lawsuit, Jane Doe is demanding $3.75 million in damages.

According to the victim’s attorney, Rob Talach, Jane Doe was repeatedly abused and assaulted by four then-Windsor Spitfires players, identified in court documentation as “John Does.” A fifth John Doe was allegedly present during the 1984 incident but did not participate in the sexual abuse.

Per Talach, the victim “lost consciousness” during an end-of-season party. When the victim regained consciousness, she became aware of one player sexually assaulting her. The other defendants reportedly took turns assaulting the victim. The court documentation states there was no consent from the victim at any point throughout the incident.

The lawsuit filed this week names the five John Does as defendants in addition to the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) and the Canadian Hockey League (CHL). Per The Athletic, the OHL and CHL did not provide statements as organizations claim they have yet to be served notice of the lawsuit.

The victim stated her complaints regarding the five John Does were disregarded by the OHL and CHL, failing to address the matter in any way. Moreover, the lawsuit states that the OHL and CHL neglected to report the John Does’ misconduct to law enforcement or local authorities.

There is no trial date set at the moment. A jury notice was filed on March 25.

2018 incident involving former OHL players encouraged victim to file lawsuit

Per Talach, the victim was fearful of raising her voice and it wasn’t until she heard of the case involving five Team Canada Junior players in 2018 that led to a national investigation on the players’ misconduct. The players in question were granted a leave of absence from their NHL clubs in order to comply with authorities.

Moreover, the OHL, CHL, and Hockey Canada faced significant backlash and scrutiny over the alleged incidents. News of that situation encouraged the victim to come forward and break her silence regarding the alleged 1984 incident.

Since then, the victim has undergone significant mental anguish, pain, and suffering, per court documents. According to her attorney, she has spent most of her life isolated and feeling powerless to do anything about her situation.

It’s also worth noting that attorney Rob Talach represented the victim in the 2018 Team Canada case. Talach’s practice is based predominantly on sexual abuse cases.