Quebec's major junior hockey league is acknowledging two of its former players have been accused of sexually assaulting a teen girl six years ago.
The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) released a statement early Tuesday morning saying it learned of the allegations from a journalist and that two players who played for the Drummondville Voltigeurs are facing accusations.
The league and the team are cooperating with authorities, according to the statement.
"Both the League and the Drummondville Voltigeurs organization have just recently been made aware of this incident, which would have occurred in 2016. The QMJHL and its teams will offer their entire cooperation to any police investigation and throughout the judicial process," the league's statement said.
"Our first thoughts go to the alleged victim, and we remain very sensitive to her situation. This explains why the League will continue to fulfill its critical mission of raising awareness and educating its players about sexual misconduct and its consequences."
The incident, first reported by Radio-Canada, allegedly involved three hockey players, two of whom were underage, and a 15-year-old complainant.
The third accused is Noah Corson, the son of NHL veteran Shayne Corson. He is facing accusations of sexual assault against a person under the age of 16, according to court documents.
Corson's agents told Radio-Canada their client denies the allegations.
Corson, who was an adult at the time of the alleged sexual assault, waived his preliminary inquiry and should appear at the Drummondville courthouse in June 2023.
The identities of the other two players cannot be published under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
'DISAPPOINTING' AND 'FRUSTRATING': LEAGUE
Maxime Blouin, director of communications for the QMJHL, said that since 2015, the league has been offering formal workshops and education.
"We are working hard with our players to educate them and to make sure they are [sensitized] to those issues, to those social issues. So to see another story coming up today, it was disappointing, it was frustrating for us," adding "we are very compassionate to what [the victim] experienced and we want to offer our support."
Blouin said it's a wider problem that implicates everyone: young people outside hockey who need to be taught about sexual misconduct and consent within their families and at school.
The league plans to will keep moving in the right direction, repeating the message, and offering more education throughout the year, said Blouin.
"I can tell you in the league office, we are sick of those stories too, to be honest with you. We are working hard to make sure that we create workshops, that we create conversations out there, that they get all the information that they need to act properly in society," he said, adding, "for sure we need to do more."
The league amplified its sexual assault action plan this year.
Two Victoriaville Tigers players - Nicolas Daigle and Massimo Siciliano - were charged with a sexual offence after the team won the President's Cup in June 2021.
With files from The Canadian Press and CTV News Montreal's Cindy Sherwin
