One of two teenage hockey players charged in Nova Scotia with sexual assault after an alleged hazing ritual last fall has appeared in court to be arraigned on a number of charges.
The second teen was not in the provincial youth court in Truro, N.S., on Tuesday when the charges against both boys were formally presented, but his lawyer appeared on his behalf by phone.
The case was adjourned until May 25, when both accused may enter pleas.
Court documents show the boys, both 15, have been charged with two counts of sexual assault and one count of sexual assault with a weapon, which police had described as a mini hockey stick.
The charges stem from alleged attacks on three victims on Oct. 3, somewhere in Colchester County, the municipality north of the Halifax region.
As well, one of the accused was originally charged with a second count of assault with a weapon – described as urine – following an alleged attack on one of the three victims between Oct. 1, 2025, and Dec. 30, 2025. But a recently updated police document shows that charge has been changed to an assault charge with no mention of a weapon.
Three members of boys’ hockey team face sexual assault charges after hazing, say Nova Scotia RCMP
The document also confirms that both boys, who were 14 at the time of the alleged offences, have been jointly charged. That means they will be put on trial together, if the case gets that far.
None of the allegations has been tested in court, and the identities of the accused and the alleged victims are protected from publication under the Youth Criminal Justice Act. Both 15-year-olds have been ordered by the court not to contact three people, and both are prohibited from entering a public dressing room unless they are with an adult.
On Feb. 5, the organization that governs hockey in the province said it first learned about an allegation involving a minor on Jan. 30. That’s when police say a youth reported being assaulted during a private team gathering in October. Hockey Nova Scotia has said it immediately referred the matter to the RCMP. As well, the hockey organization confirmed that a youth team in the Truro area had been suspended.
The Mounties have said they collected statements from multiple witnesses, which led to new allegations indicating other offences had occurred at different locations.
Four youths were arrested in early February, but charges were laid against only two of them before the end of that month.