‘This shattered my son’: AAA parents question Hockey Canada response amid alleged sexual assaults

The parents of two former Timmins Majors U18 AAA players allege their sons were victims of hazing, bullying and sexual assault while on the team.

Content advisory: This article includes allegations of sexual assault.

The parents of two former players with the Timmins Majors U-18 AAA hockey team allege their sons were victims of a continued pattern of sexual assault and humiliating hazing and bullying this season, and that Hockey Canada’s Independent Third Party, which investigates allegations of misconduct, has not responded nearly two months after it was informed about a series of incidents on the team.

The mother of one former Timmins player, who will be referred to as John Doe 1 in this reporting, asked that she and her son not be identified because he is now playing for another team and fears being blacklisted for speaking out about the alleged abuse, which she said occurred in locker rooms, on the team bus, and during road trips.

“This has shattered my son,” the mother said. “He tried out for this team two years in a row and didn’t make it. They told him to work hard and get stronger and he did. He made the team this season and was so proud and excited. And then after we do the right thing and report what has happened, the team tries to hide and bury it.”

The mother, whose son quit the team in October, said the alleged inappropriate behaviour included players urinating on younger teammates, simulating sex acts in the team shower, with some veteran players mimicking humping their younger, naked teammates without consent, older players putting their penises in the faces of younger teammates, and veteran players circulating sexually explicit videos in a team group chat.

John Doe 1’s mother said she told Christina Hebert, a case manager for Hockey Canada’s Independent Third Party (ITP), in a phone conversation on Jan. 22 about the alleged incidents and about the players who were allegedly involved.

The ITP has the power to investigate and discipline players and coaches involved in abuse in Hockey Canada-sanctioned leagues, although Hockey Canada is among the national sports organizations that keeps those decisions a secret.

According to John Doe 1’s mother, Hebert said during their conversation that she would call the mother back the following day after briefing Northern Ontario Hockey Association executive director Jason Marchand about the allegations.

Marchand did not respond to a request for comment.

John Doe 1’s mother said she has never heard back from Hebert or anyone else affiliated with the ITP.

Complaint about locker-room culture

John Doe 1’s mother told TSN that she filed a complaint about the team’s locker-room culture on Thursday with the Children’s Aid Societies, a provincial government-funded agency that investigates allegations of abuse and neglect for children under 18.

Hockey Canada spokesman Jeremy Knight wrote in an email to TSN that he could not comment on the case because the ITP process is confidential. Jahmiah Ferdinand-Hodkin, who oversees Hockey Canada’s ITP, wrote in an email to TSN that she also cannot discuss specific cases.

Michael Tomassini, a Timmins lawyer who represents the hockey team, wrote in a letter to TSN on Thursday that the organization would not comment on the allegations.

“I want to be abundantly clear that the Timmins Majors take all matters related to player safety and the specific allegations that have been made in this instance extremely seriously,” Tomassini wrote. “After considering the matter, I am of the view that the club simply cannot comment publicly on the substance of the matters that could be the subject of adjudicative processes involving minors wherein confidentiality is paramount.”

The father of another player who quit the team in December, and who also asked for anonymity, told TSN that he confronted the team’s head coach, Shawn McArthur, on Oct. 12 after his son had shared details about alleged abuse with him.

The father, whose son will be referred to as John Doe 2 in this reporting, said he told McArthur that his son witnessed a veteran player allegedly urinating on a younger teammate in the locker room following a game in Sault Ste. Marie.

John Doe 2 also alleged that a player had smacked him in the face with his penis, that veteran players had masturbated in front of younger players in the locker room, and that he had watched as a veteran player embraced a naked younger teammate from behind in the shower and simulated a sexual act with him.

‘Where were the adults?’

“When I told the coach all the things my son said were happening in his locker room and on his team bus, he told me, ‘You should have seen it here last year when it was even worse,’” the father said. “Well, if it was that bad, then why were the coaches not more diligent about making sure the bad behaviour was stopped? Where were the adults in the room?”

McArthur promised to investigate, the father of John Doe 2 said, and three days later, a team official acknowledged that there were issues.

In an email sent Oct. 15, 2025, to parents of his players, Timmins Majors U-18 AAA general manager Ron Holmes wrote that the organization had been alerted to troubling conduct within the team. Holmes wrote that he had been contacted by several parents who raised “significant concerns” about the culture inside the dressing room.

“I am extremely disappointed to have to send this message,” Holmes wrote in the email, which was provided to TSN by the mother of John Doe 2. “First and foremost, I want to be absolutely clear: we have a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to hazing and bullying of any kind… After a thorough investigation, I can confirm that there have been incidents involving behavior that is both unacceptable and inappropriate in nature, including sexual behaviours that have no place on this team or in any team environment.”

Holmes wrote to the parents that the team had held an emergency board meeting and met with players to address the situation. His email did not say whether any players faced any consequences.

“Moving forward, any form of rookie hazing is strictly prohibited and will not be tolerated,” Holmes wrote in the email, adding that rookies could still be asked to help with tasks such as collecting pucks or moving nets during practices and games.

Urgent meeting held

Holmes scheduled an urgent online meeting for parents later that evening “to further discuss this matter.”

John Doe 2 told TSN in an interview on Thursday that over the following weeks -- after Holmes sent his email -- he told the coach about more bad behaviour that had allegedly occurred in the locker room.

John Doe 2 said he told Holmes about an incident that happened in the locker room in late September, when a veteran player allegedly pressured a first-year teammate to place a condom on the veteran’s penis after it had been lying on the floor.

John Doe 2 also told Holmes about an incident in which a first-year player was told to lay down on the locker-room floor while teammates used hockey tape to pull the hair off part of his leg. Another player allegedly attempted to use tape to remove pubic hair from the player’s genital area.

In another alleged incident, a veteran player grabbed an Oreo cookie from John Doe 2, took the cookie into the bathroom, and then he showed it to some teammates, telling them he’d ejaculated on it. Another time, a player held a pair of scissors to his own penis and said he was going to cut it off, John Doe 2 said.

“It seemed to me like Holmes was writing everything down but he didn’t seem to be alarmed,” John Doe 2 said. “He did say the scissors incident was concerning.”

John Doe 2 said he also experienced hazing on a regular basis. He alleged that, after one teammate repeatedly cross-checked him in the back and shoulder during drills, causing an injury that forced him to miss a weekend of games, a team official mocked him, saying his shoulder was “a long way from [his] vagina,” and told him he didn’t need to be examined by a trainer.

John Doe 2 also said team staff repeatedly commented on his pale complexion and at one point referred to him as “albino.”

Dispute escalates

On Dec. 28, John Doe 2 quit the team.

“I had really wanted to stick it out for the season,” he said. “I wanted to see if I could make it work and push through everything and maybe get called up to play a Junior A game.”

The dispute escalated when John Doe 2 sought a release from the team so he could continue playing elsewhere. His parents provided TSN with an email sent to them on Dec. 30, 2025 by the organization’s board of directors, management, and staff.

In the email, the Timmins hockey organization wrote that behaviour issues within the team had been “internally dealt with by our coaching staff” and that players who were involved had apologized. The team wrote that John Doe 2 would be blocked from moving to another club until he paid roughly $2,800 in outstanding fees.

Suggesting the team had failed to keep players safe was “very offensive towards our board members, organization and program,” the organization wrote. “We highly suggest you govern yourself accordingly as we will not accept any time of [slanderous] comments towards our organization and its members.”

John Doe 2’s father also said Holmes told him the organization would cover the cost of therapy for his son because of what he had experienced while with the team. That commitment has not been fulfilled, John Doe 2’s father said.

After John Doe 2 returned to school in the community where his family lives, he told a guidance counsellor about the alleged abuse. On Mar. 4, the counsellor contacted local police and on the same day, John Doe 2 was interviewed by an officer from the police department’s sexual assault first responder unit.

The next day, March 5, an officer from the Timmins Police Service contacted John Doe 2’s father and asked if the player would agree to do an interview on camera.

“We asked for time to make that decision,” John Doe 2’s father said. “We are still considering how to proceed with the police.”

Timmins Police Service spokesperson Michelle St. Louis confirmed to TSN that her department is in the early stage of investigating a complaint regarding the hockey team.

If you or someone you know is struggling with sexual assault or trauma, the following resources are available to support people in crisis:

• If you are in immediate danger or fear for your safety, you should call 911.
• A full list of sexual assault centres in Canada that offer information, advocacy and counselling can be found ​on the website for Ending Sexual Violence Association of Canada.
• Helplines, legal services and locations that offer sexual assault kits in Alberta, B.C., Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Quebec, Ontario and Nova Scotia can be found here.
• National Residential School Crisis Line: [phone]
• 24-hour crisis line: 416 597 8808
• Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline: [phone]
• Trans Lifeline: [phone]
• Sexual misconduct support for current or former members of the Armed Forces: [phone]
• Read about your rights as a victim here.