Florida ice hockey team Tampa Bay Lightning has suspended defenseman Ian Cole pending an investigation into sexual abuse allegations that surfaced on social media, the team announced Sunday.
The team is cooperating with the NHL in its investigation, the Lightning said in a statement after an anonymous user claimed Friday that Cole sexually abused her while she was a minor.
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“Our organization takes these allegations very seriously,” the team added in the statement. “While we continue to gather more details, we have decided to suspend Ian Cole pending the results of an investigation. No members of the organization, including players, will comment further at this time.”
No timeline for an investigation by the league or law enforcement has been set, and no formal sexual abuse charges have been brought against Cole. Cole has denied the allegations and said he will fully cooperate with any investigation.
“I take the allegations made against me today in an anonymous tweet very seriously,” Cole said in a statement. “I look forward to clearing my name and demonstrating to the NHL and the Tampa Bay Lightning that these allegations are unfounded.”
The allegations against Cole were tweeted Friday by an anonymous user, who did not specify when or where the alleged abuse took place. However, the person wrote that Cole “groomed” her for four years, beginning when she was a minor in high school. The accuser also claimed Cole was aware of the victim’s age at the time of the alleged sexual abuse.
My statement on being groomed and sexually abused by Tampa Bay Lightning and NHL player Ian Cole. @TBLightning @NHL #tampabaylightning #Canes #NHL #IanCole pic.twitter.com/IJ438bhodt
— Emily Smith (@emily_smith3333) October 7, 2022
“The NHL needs to hold themselves and their players accountable for creating [and] enabling [an] environment of misogynistic and predatory behavior,” the accuser wrote in the post.
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The allegations come as Cole enters his 13th season with the NHL after signing a one-year free agent deal worth $3 million with the Lightning during the offseason. He was expected to be in the team’s lineup when the regular season starts Tuesday against the New York Rangers.
Cole was signed to the St. Louis Blues in 2010 and has played for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Columbus Blue Jackets, Minnesota Wild, Colorado Avalanche, and the Carolina Hurricanes.
