A race with a grape in the anus that the loser had to eat, forced sexual intercourse, in turns, with a woman, insertion of a heating liquid in the anus, masturbation session on the bus: an introductory request for a class action, filed in court Tuesday, adds another layer to the sordid acts that have allegedly occurred in the QMJHL since 1969.
This request was filed by lawyers from the Kugler Kandestin firm, in connection with the class action brought against the QMJHL and its 18 Canadian Hockey League teams by former hockey player Carl Latulippe on behalf of all minor players who suffered abuse in the league, from 1969 to today.
Overall, the lawyers believe that the junior circuits targeted “manifestly failed in their legal obligations to care for the minor children entrusted to them” and demonstrated “systemic negligence” and “tolerated a culture of abuse”, adding that Mr. Latulippe’s case “is tragically far from being an isolated case.”
Other disturbing cases
Other cases of abuse suffered by former players are then described. The 57-page document details the case of Mr. Latulippe as well as five other members, whose anonymity is preserved.
Member A, who played in the QMJHL in the early and mid-1970s, recounts that “two or three senior players held his arms and legs and an ice cube was placed in his anus while the veteran players cheered wildly. Member A. had to keep the ice cube in his anus until it melted.”
Member C, a 17-year-old rookie in the mid-1980s, recounts that he and other first-year players were forced “to participate in a humiliating ‘race’ known as a ‘grape race.'” It involved the rookies running together in a series of races, naked, with a grape up their anus. In each race, the person who lost the race was forced to eat his or her grape and the grapes of everyone else in the race.
The same “member C” adds that a member of staff took them to a bar and got them drunk until they were drunk before taking them to a house where a woman was waiting for them.
“On the staff member’s orders, the recruits, one after the other, were to have sexual intercourse with the woman. Some players left the room where the woman was, crying and saying they did not want to do it, clearly traumatized by what they had been forced to do by the staff member. Member C saw blood on some players’ penises. According to his understanding, the woman was menstruating during the session,” the application states.
Many other such incidents are described in the document.
Appeal dismissed
Let us recall that the QMJHL, its 18 teams and the CHL attempted to appeal in order to invalidate the class action request filed by Carl Latulippe, but were dismissed a little over a week ago.
Carl Latulippe is seeking $650,000 and $15 million in collective punitive and exemplary damages.
Some other disturbing testimonies from the application
Member A: «He was forced to participate in what veterans called “the torture chamber.” Upon entering the chamber, Member A. was required to strip naked and lie on a table. Veterans cracked eggs onto his body, then smeared him with a mixture of cracked eggs, mustard powder, flour, and oil. He then had to stand up with the sticky mixture, walk around, and sit on a chair, where the abuse continued, all for a period of approximately 30 minutes. Member A. felt completely humiliated; and the recruits were forced to participate in a degrading session of watching pornographic videos in a person’s home, which included scenes of bestiality.»
Member B: «All the recruits on the team were initiated together. During an initiation party, the team spent most of the evening and into the early night in a house. One by one, the recruits had to go through the initiation. During the initiation, each recruit was completely naked and “mastered” on a table by several veterans. The veterans shaved each recruit from head to toe, including the genitals. They then sodomized member B. in order to insert “heat” into him. [un produit hyper-chaud utilisé par les entraîneurs pour traiter les blessures] in the anus.»
Member C: “Other heinous and abusive incidents occurred on the bus during this type of trip. For example, recruits were forced to participate in a “game” in which a recruit had to go sit next to a certain senior player, without pants, a few rows behind where the coaches were sitting. The recruit and the senior player had to engage in a competition where each had to masturbate in order to ejaculate before the other. Neither recruit was able to win against the senior player, who was known for his speed. The senior player would ejaculate on the recruit’s legs.»
Member D: “After a practice, during a team dinner at a busy restaurant, the veteran players forced the rookies, at the end of the meal, to go outside in front of the restaurant window, lined up in order of selection choices (last to first choice) and were forced to chew the same piece of bread in turn, going from last choice to first. Member D. was so disgusted that, during his turn, after putting the piece of bread in his mouth, he regurgitated his entire meal. The team staff member present witnessed what happened.» Member E: «During his rookie season, he and the other rookies were forced to go together completely naked to the bus bathroom. They were forced to stay there and could only leave if they had an erection.
