Steenbergen details calls from Foote, Dube during Hockey Canada investigation

Content advisory: This article includes graphic language and details of alleged sexual assault

LONDON, ONT.– Tyler Steenbergen, a former member of Canada’s 2018 world junior team, testified Thursday that teammates Callan Foote and Dillon Dube both phoned him after learning Hockey Canada was conducting an investigation into an alleged sexual assault and asked him not to reveal what he had seen those players do the night of the alleged incident.

Steenbergen testified that Dube and Foote contacted him about a week after the alleged incident on June 19, 2018 in a London hotel room.

After speaking with them, Steenbergen testified that he decided he would only share with Hockey Canada investigators what he had seen if he was asked specifically.

Steenbergen, who is not accused of wrongdoing, testified that while he was in Michael McLeod’s hotel room, he saw Dube slap E.M., the complainant in the sexual assault trial of Dube, Foote, and three of their Team Canada teammates. Steenbergen also saw Foote do the splits over top of E.M., although his view was obscured, he testified.

“They didn't mention either of them in the interview, so I just thought I would let them be able to explain it themselves.” Steenbergen testified, adding that he was not asked about Dube and Foote. 

Steenbergen also testified Thursday morning about a June 26, 2018, group chat that featured 11 members of the team in which the players learned Hockey Canada was probing the alleged sexual assault a week earlier and discussed what they would tell investigators.

Assistant Crown attorney Heather Donkers read out most of the 134 messages the players in the group chat sent to one another. There were another 11 messages that were either redacted or empty of content.

Members of the group chat included Steenbergen, Foote, Dube, McLeod, Carter Hart, Jake Bean, Maxime Comtois, Drake Batherson, Brett Howden, Sam Steel, and Alex Formenton.

At one point in the exchange, McLeod wrote, “We all need to say the same thing if we get interviewed can’t have different stories or make anything up.”

Steenbergen appeared remotely via CCTV. The 27-year-old, who was drafted by the Arizona Coyotes in 2017 and no longer plays professional hockey, is the third non-charged player to testify in the trial.

McLeod, Hart, Formenton, Dube, and Foote are charged with sexually assaulting a woman referred to in court documents as E.M. in a London hotel room in the early morning hours of June 19, 2018. McLeod faces a second charge of being a party to the act.

The defendants have all pleaded not guilty. If they are convicted, they face up to 10 years in prison.

The court has heard evidence that, after dancing with McLeod and his teammates at a bar in downtown London, E.M. returned to McLeod’s hotel room and the two had consensual sex. E.M., whose identity is protected by a publication ban, has testified that she had about 12 alcoholic drinks over the course of the evening, although defence lawyers have suggested that she actually drank much less alcohol than that.

E.M. has alleged that after she and McLeod finished having sex, a number of other men began showing up at the hotel room. E.M. was then sexually assaulted for several hours, taking on a “porn star persona” to get out of the room safely, she has testified. At one point, she testified that the players suggested she put golf balls and a golf club in her vagina.

At one point in the early morning hours of June 19, 2018, McLeod sent a group text message to his teammates writing, “Who wants to be in a 3 way quick. 209-Mikey”.

While E.M. has testified that she did not know McLeod was sending that message, a defence lawyer has suggested that McLeod sent the message after E.M. asked him to invite his teammates to his room for a “wild night” with her.

Steenbergen testified that there were 10 men in McLeod’s hotel room when he saw E.M. giving oral sex to Hart and McLeod. Steenbergen testified that after E.M.’s sexual act with Hart, he saw Dube slap E.M. on the buttocks while she was on a bedsheet on the floor between two beds.

“I was trying to have a conversation with Bean, and then we looked up and saw a slap,” Steenbergen testified. “It wasn’t hard but it didn’t seem soft either.”

Steenbergen testified that he did not hear the slap because he was speaking with Bean.

“Was there any reaction from anyone else in the room as a result of what you observed?” Donkers asked.

“Not that I observed,” Steenbergen answered. “I was trying to just stay in my conversation and not pay too much attention to it because I had a girlfriend at the time who’s now my wife for almost three years.”

Roughly 10 or 15 minutes after he arrived in the hotel room, Foote showed up, Steenbergen testified.

Steenbergen told the court that he “partially” saw Foote do the splits over top of E.M. but he did not have a full view because of the number of men who were standing closer to her.

“I just remember seeing him and then he went down and I couldn’t see anything,” Steenbergen testified. “He’s tall. I could see his head and then I could see it. And then he got back up.”

Steenbergen testified that Foote entered the room wearing clothes and that he couldn’t see whether Foote was dressed or undressed when he did the splits. Foote left the room almost immediately after that, Steenbergen said.

After spending 10 or 15 minutes in the room, Steenbergen said he and Bean then left. He testified that he didn’t leave sooner because he didn’t want to step over E.M., who was naked, and between him and the door.

On Wednesday, Steenbergen testified that he saw E.M. give oral sex to Hart and McLeod and heard her say to the players, “‘Can one of you come over and f--k me?’”

Steenbergen testified that members of Canada’s 2018 world junior team learned that Hockey Canada was investigating the alleged incident on or about June 26, 2018.

The group chat began with a message Dube sent at 7:44 p.m.

“Hey boys add the rest who aren’t in here so I can say something,” he wrote.

“There are no criminal charges it’s hockey Canada code of conduct and they are investigating on what happened that might so it won’t happen again,” Dube wrote at 7:57 p.m.

“Could we get in trouble for it or no?” Bean wrote at 8 p.m.

“I don’t think so,” Dube responded.

“We all need to say the same thing if we get interviewed can’t have different stories or make anything up,” McLeod wrote at 8:09 p.m.

“Kk let’s get a group going to all ta k,” Dube wrote at 8:10 p.m.

Dube asked if players could join a messaging app called Houseparty.

“Or should we make a big snap group we can all ft there,” McLeod wrote at 8:11 p.m.

“No, boys. Like we don’t need to make anything up. No 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,” Bean wrote at 8:11 p.m.

“And M key literally has a video giving her consent,” Bean wrote a minute later.

“Ok ya f--k we are fine the boys who did things got consent so just tell them that and it’s fine,” Dube responded.

“All we have to say is ‘someone brought the girl back to the room. We were all in there ordering food and then this girl started begging from everyone to have sex with her. Nobody would do it. But then as time went on she gave 3 guys head. Once things started to get out of hand we all left and got her out’” Howden wrote at 8:14 pm.

“Yeah or no?” he wrote moments later.

“Ya that’s all that happened so we are good. Everyone treated her fine because she gave those guys consent so it’s all good,” Dube wrote at 8:15 pm.

“F--k. Mikey has the video of her consenting. Like we just show bully [Hockey Canada official Shawn Bullock] that and we’re fine,” Howden wrote a few moments later. 

“Nobody forced her to do anything. If anything we should put allegations on her f--k,” he wrote at 8:16 p.m.

“I did have sex with her before everyone came in u guys know that part right,” McLeod wrote at 8:16 pm.

“She’s the one who got naked and started begging everyone,” Howden wrote a few moments later.

“Yeah what should I say if they asked why I took the videos tho,” McLeod also wrote at 8:16 pm.

“You took the videos because you wanted to make sure nothing bad would happen. And cover yourself,” Bean wrote at 8:18 p.m.

“Yeah ok we gotta keep each other in the loop here if someone hears something gotta let everyone know,” McLeod wrote at 8:19 pm.

“They can’t go through your phone unless police is involved in it… that’s not the case,” Comtois wrote at 8:20 p.m.

“Let’s not make her sound too crazy because if she gets wind of this and then she can get even more angry and we don’t need that so just be good about it but the truth with it,” Dube wrote a few moments later.

“The truth is we didn’t do anything stupid… we had her consent, we didn’t force her to do anything,” Comtois wrote at 8:22 p.m.

In later messages, McLeod wrote that players who were in the room should not lie and say that they had not been there. He wrote that he had not corresponded with E.M. for a week.

“Isn’t it only for hockey Canada and how they can prevent something like this from happening again? No police are involved because hockey Canada hired an investigator privately, right?” Foote wrote at 9:21 p.m.

“I believe so,” Dube wrote.

“Okay then it’s private and no police are involved so we are all perfectly fine,” Foote wrote a few moments later.

At 10:36 p.m., Howden asked the others on the group chat if they had received an email. Steenbergen testified Howden was referring to correspondence from Hockey Canada in which players were told they would be expected to participate in interviews.

“You just gonna reply and say when to call or what?” Howden wrote at 10:40 p.m.

“I’m just never gonna reply hahah,” Dube wrote a minute later.

“hahaha cmon actually tho,” Howden wrote at 10:46 p.m.

“What you gonna say,” Howden wrote a moment later.

“Idk,” Dube responded at 11:01 p.m.

“Honestly boys nobody did anything wrong, l ke we got consent to anything that she did. she was the one begging for guys to bang her,” Hart wrote at 11:51 p.m.

A few minutes later Hart asked whether Hockey Canada or the police were investigating, or both. McLeod responded that it was a Hockey Canada investigation only. Hart then wrote that Bullock wanted to speak with him on the phone and asked the other players what he should say.

“Just talk to him he’s calling everyone,” Bean wrote at 12:27 a.m.

“What did you say to him,” Hart wrote a minute later.

“What do I tell him?” Hart wrote at 12:28 a.m.

“He won’t ask you anything about what happen,” Comtois wrote at 12:29 a.m.

Howden then wrote to the group text members that Hockey Canada wanted the players to come to Toronto to be interviewed in person.

“Yeah man that’s ridiculous. Like this is nothing and we can’t be making this big of deal out of it,” Bean wrote at 1:08 a.m.

“Im not going to f--king Toronto for that s--t,” Comtois wrote at 1:09 a.m.

“This is a joke,” Howden wrote a moment later.

“This is going way to far then it should’ve,” Comtois wrote at 1:30 a.m.

“They want me to fly to Toronto… not a chance,” Comtois wrote a minute later.

“Should we get laywers to ta k for us,” Hart wrote at 1:32 a.m.

“We’d have to pay for that wouldn’t we,” Howden wrote a moment later.

“Get one lawyer for everyone,” Comtois wrote at 1:33 a.m.

After a number of other messages, Bean wrote one of the group chat’s final texts.

“Everyone stop talking in here. And talk to your agents about this,” Bean wrote at 1:36 a.m.

The case was adjourned mid-afternoon as lawyers made arguments in the jury’s absence.