Harassment allegation rocks Senators
KARLSSON’S WIFE ALLEGES PARTNER OF SENS FORWARD CONDUCTED CAMPAIGN OF HARASSMENT
The wife of Ottawa Senators captain Erik Karlsson has filed an order of protection against the girlfriend of one of Karlsson’s teammates, alleging harassment and cyberbullying.
In an application for a peace bond filed May 4 in an Ottawa court, Melinda Karlsson alleges that Monika Caryk posted hundreds of derogatory online messages aimed at her and her husband. Caryk is the longtime partner of Senators forward Mike Hoffman.
“Monika Caryk has uttered numerous statements wishing my unborn child dead,” Karlsson said in the sworn statement. The Karlssons’ first child, a son named Axel, was stillborn in March.
The Ottawa Citizen was first to report on the allegations.
Karlsson also claimed that Caryk “uttered that she wished I was dead and that someone should ‘take out’ my husband’s legs to ‘end his career.’
“Monika Caryk has posted over 1,000 negative and derogatory statements about me as a professional.”
The Senators said in a statement Tuesday that the NHL club is “investigating this matter in cooperation with the NHL and will take whatever steps are necessary to protect the safety and privacy of our players and their families.”
Hoffman denied the allegations in a statement to the Citizen. An email to Hoffman’s agent seeking comment was not immediately returned.
According to Canada’s Department of Justice website, a peace bond is a protection order that requires a person to keep the peace and be on good behaviour, and is used when that person appears likely to commit a criminal offence, but there are no reasonable grounds to believe that an offence has actually been committed.
The Karlssons were the target of cyberbullying in March. An ugly online comment was posted on Erik Karlsson’s Instagram account after the defenceman made a post acknowledging the support he and Melinda received following their son’s death.
“I feel bad for the baby he didn’t have a chance with Melinda popping pain killer medication everyday,” posted an Instagram user known as sandydandy45.
Karlsson’s response suggested the comment was part of a larger pattern of harassment.
“How dare you,” he posted. “You have been making fake accounts and buying hacked ones for months to harass me and my wife but this is an all new low even for you. You are a disgusting person.”