Junior hockey player’s sex assault sentence a ‘wake up call’ to young men, advocate says

Warning: This communicative contains delicate taxable matter. Discretion is advised.

The caller sentencing of erstwhile inferior hockey subordinate Noah Corson has renewed calls for young men to amended recognize consent and the law, an advocator says.

On Monday, the ex-Quebec Maritime Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) subordinate was sentenced to 2 years little a time successful situation for sexually assaulting a 15-year-old miss during radical enactment involving 2 different players backmost successful 2016.

Corson, the lad of erstwhile NHL subordinate Shayne Corson, received his condemnation successful Drummondville, Que., from Judge Paul Dunnigan.

The battle happened successful Drummondville, with the 2 different boys who were some past 17-year-old minors. They some pleaded blameworthy successful younker tribunal and their identities are protected by a work ban. Corson, present 27, was 18 astatine the clip and played with the Drummondville Voltigeurs. Corson had testified helium believed the miss was astatine slightest 16.

Dunnigan based his ruling not connected the victim’s assertion that she did not consent to the radical sex, but connected Corson’s nonaccomplishment to instrumentality tenable steps to corroborate the property of the victim, whose individuality is besides protected.

In an interrogation with Global News connected Thursday, intersexual battle and exploitation advocator Jennie-Laure Sully with CLES, said, “She was underage, she did not person the ineligible property of consent, truthful consent was not possible. It was his work to cheque her age. Mistake fig 1 is to presume.”

The Criminal Code says a idiosyncratic indispensable beryllium astatine slightest 16 years aged to consent to sex, though determination is an objection for 14- and 15-year-olds erstwhile their intersexual spouse is little than 5 years older than them.

However, Dunnigan cited ineligible precedent that states the objection does not use to cases involving much than 2 participants successful a intersexual act.

Sully agreed, saying this wasn’t a elemental intersexual brushwood betwixt 2 people, but betwixt a radical of 3 inferior hockey league players and 1 girl, which raises questions astir powerfulness and coercion.

While enactment acquisition programs should beryllium teaching young radical astir consent and the law, Sully said those moving with victims person seen a noticeable summation successful intersexual battle cases by young men and boys.

“Things were starting to alteration aft the Me Too movement and the epoch that followed. It had a large taste impact. But I deliberation it affected older men who saw the consequences unfold and feared for themselves and their careers,” Sully said.

“But today’s younger men and boys, they were excessively young during that time, they didn’t get that fearfulness — the fearfulness of repercussions. And there’s a benignant of backlash to that now, an overcorrection, an online Andrew Tate civilization that is influencing this younger generation.”

The Crown had sought a 30-month sentence, portion the defence representing Corson argued for a condemnation of 2 years little a time to beryllium served successful the community.

During sentencing, the justice noted findings successful a pre-sentence study that said, “The accused’s inheritance being that of hockey, the interior civilization linked to it could person influenced his reasoning oregon that popularity and occurrence could person fixed mode to a comparative feeling of impunity and a definite objectification of women.”

Sully besides spoke astir what she called the “negative power of entitlement and a consciousness of impunity” that young men tin consciousness erstwhile successful groups.

This comes amid an ongoing high-profile satellite inferior intersexual battle trial successful Ontario this week involving 5 erstwhile members of Canada’s satellite inferior hockey team.

When it comes to addressing intersexual unit embedded successful inferior hockey culture, Quebec’s sports minister, Isabelle Charest, told Global News successful a connection that she “would archetypal similar to reiterate that we are actively moving connected these issues, peculiarly with respect to driving taste alteration successful hockey.”

She added that she powerfully encourages victims to proceed to travel forward.

When asked for remark connected Corson’s sentencing, QMJHL spokesperson Raphaël Doucet said, “Our thoughts are with the unfortunate and we privation her each the champion successful the future.”

Corson’s lawyers accidental they volition entreaty the blameworthy verdict.

Support is disposable for radical who person been sexually assaulted oregon abused. You tin entree situation lines and local enactment services. Visit the Department of Justice’s Victim Services Directory for a database of resources successful your area. 

— with files from The Canadian Press