According to a report in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, six former or current Minnesota State Mavericks are currently under investigation for sexual assault after an incident that happened in late February.
A young woman stated in a search warrant affadavit that on the night of February 21, she said that a hockey player and another woman were taken to his house at 3:30 a.m. She said that eight people total smoked marijuana and smoked a white substance from a pipe. She said that she drifted in and out of consciousness and felt pain as an object was used to sexually assault her. She waited until 5 a.m. before walking to a hospital for treatment.
The women then identified, by name, six former or current Maverick hockey players as the others in the house.
The six players named were Shane McCormick, Austin Sutter, Blake Friesen, Brian Kilburg, Christian Toll and Brock Becker. All six denied the charges in the affadavit.
McCormick and Sutter told the Star Tribune that the story was false. They said that they took the women, who were Sutter’s friends, back to Sutter’s house, watched TV, ate hot dogs and played guitar. They also claim that at one point the other woman asked the accuser to leave, but she refused. Friesen and Toll said that they was also at the house, but that nothing happened. Kilburg has said that he wasn’t at the house. Becker has said that he was there, but left after 10 minutes to go home.
The police searched Sutter’s house and found a green leafy substance and a glass pipe.
Toll, Becker, McCormick and Sutter were suspended for the final five games of the regular season and the playoffs. Friesen was initially dismissed from the team, but then was reinstated. Kilburg was not suspended.
The Star Tribune also reports that Sutter and McCormick have been dismissed from the team.
Sutter told the Star Tribune that he and the other players believe they will be cleared and they plan to sue the accuser.
