Tiger Williams charged with sexual assault mid-flight

Being a professional/celebrity means one have to attend certain functions and events, particularly those that promote good faith.

Former National Hockey League (NHL) star Dave “Tiger” Williams has been charged by military police with sexual assault in connection with an incident that took place aboard a Canadian military flight to Latvia, the military announced Friday.

National Defense released a brief statement Friday, saying Williams was taking part in a morale visit to the Canadian contingent in Latvia just before Christmas.

An incident took place on a C-150 passenger jet overnight flight to Riga between Dec. 2 and 3. The alleged victim was another passenger, who reported the incident while they were en route.

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Williams is facing one count of sexual assault under the Criminal Code and one count of common assault. Officials at the Department of National Defence said the case will be handed over to a civilian Crown prosecutor in Ottawa for consideration.

The Canadian Forces National Investigation Service would not release any information about the alleged victim.

The charges against the 64-year-old come at a time when the military has been cracking down on sexual misconduct in its ranks.

Williams played in the NHL from 1974 to 1988 for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Vancouver Canucks, Detroit Red Wings, Los Angeles Kings and Hartford Whalers.

National Defence would not comment on whether Williams was allowed to continue with the show tour after the allegations were made.

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However, a defense source, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the former hockey enforcer was not removed from the schedule and returned with the troupe in mid-December.

Williams has been a regular on military morale tours, traveling to Afghanistan to play celebrity ball hockey games against troops when they were deployed.

He took part in 14 such overseas excursions.

These kinds of celebrity morale-building trips are a feature of overseas deployments in many Western militaries.