A photo of Isaac Heeney posing for a photo on Monday morning has sparked outrage.
The photo shared on Facebook reportedly shows Heeney, the Swans player at the centre of a police investigation into an alleged sexual assault, with his arm around a young Swans supporter on the same morning a woman made a report to Victoria Police of an alleged sexual assault incident.
7News reports the photo was taken from inside the Pullman Hotel foyer in East Melbourne timestamped at 8.16am.
Swans players were staying at the hotel following their win over Essendon on Sunday night.
The club earlier this week stood down five players, including Heeney, for the rest of the season after the club found them to have breached the club’s standards of behaviour.
Those suspensions handed down to Nick Blakey, James Jordon, Heeney, Chad Warner and Riley Bice are for an entirely different incident to the ongoing police investigation.
Sydney Swans coach Dean Cox can be seen in the background of the photo talking to a woman.
Coach was reportedly shocked when he and other club staff were confronted by a number of women inside the hotel on Monday morning.
The parent of the child seen in the photo with Heeney has shared her anger at Heeney’s decision to pose with her five-year-old the morning after he was found to have breached behavioural standards during a night of drinking that ended up back at the team’s hotel.
“My family have supported the Swans for generations, we have been die-hard Swans through and through,” the parent wrote on social media.
“I am so angry and incredibly disappointed.
“We were there that morning. We were in that reception area. None the wiser, until police showed up after we returned from breakfast. My kids had so many questions about the police and what they were doing while we tried to check out.
“Isaac posed for a photo with my five year old daughter. At 8:10am she proudly showed him her Isaac badge. He smiled for the photo with her.
“Knowing what has since been alleged, I cannot stop thinking he should have said no. He should have said, ‘Now isn’t a good time.’ Instead, my little girl got a photo with someone she considered an idol. Now she keeps asking me what her idol did wrong.
“My seven year old son has asked me what sexual assault means and why the man in XXXX photo did something like that.
“We saved hard for that trip. For our kids to stay in a hotel and see the Swans play. We had no idea they’d be at the hotel but when we realised it was such a special part of our holiday. They were excited to see the players they look up to.
“Instead, that memory and that photograph are now tied to something I desperately wish my children knew nothing about.
“I understand these are allegations and there is a legal process that must be respected. But as a parent and a lifelong supporter, I am furious that my children were put anywhere near this situation.”
Of the five involved in the alleged incident, Heeney is reportedly at the centre of the police investigation.
None of the five players have formally been interviewed by police, but they have reportedly spoken to investigators.
No arrests have been made nor any charges laid, with the exact circumstances of the incident still to be determined.
News.com.au does not suggest any of the players are under investigation or implicated in any wrongdoing, only that they have been spoken to by investigators.
Woman speaks out after alleged sexual assault
The woman at the centre of the alleged sexual assault involving five Sydney Swans players has claimed there were nine men in the Melbourne hotel room, and that they performed for “less money” because they “told us they were carpenters”.
The Herald Sun has exclusively interviewed the dancer at the centre of the allegation, who is claiming there were “nine men” in the room, despite the Swans claiming there were no more than five.
She said: “I don’t want money. All I care about is justice.
“I’m going to stand up for what is right. And I’m never going to let this happen to anyone else. Justice will be served.
“I care about women’s rights and what’s right, because this happens too often to women and they get away with it.”
She has also alleged the players “told us they were carpenters” and therefore could not pay the full rate.
It comes after Channel 7 reported they contacted the woman who took the Party Girls Melbourne booking from the Swans players on Monday morning.
The individual, who asked to remain anonymous, claims she and the exotic dancer have been identified online and are now “worried about retribution” from the public and “fear for their lives”.
She went on to add: “I’m so scared. This is so dangerous for our safety.”
The same report alleges that the sexual assault complaint was a “slap on the backside,” noting that detail remained unconfirmed.
Meanwhile, senior police sources have reportedly told ABC their understanding is an “arrangement was reached in a hotel room” for players to take drugs, believed to be cocaine, off the women’s breasts and buttocks.
Isaac Heeney, Chad Warner, Nick Blakey, James Jordon and Riley Bice have been stood down for the remainder of the AFL season as police continue to investigate an alleged sexual assault at a Melbourne hotel in the early hours of Monday morning.
Squad disharmony
The Swans squad are reportedly anything but united on the back of the investigation into an alleged sexual assault following the team’s win over Essendon at the MCG on Sunday.
The squad know they have to move forward and focus on footy, which is easier said than done.
As they returned to training on Wednesday, notably the five players stood down were not in attendance.
Before the session got underway, Swans captain Callum Mills addressed the playing group and staff, who stood shoulder to shoulder in a circle.
Many players could be seen with their heads down listening to the speech from their skipper and coach Dean Cox.
The usual jovial mood around training was anything but as the team prepares for the tall task of a finals footy campaign without several of their stars.
And while the Swans are presenting a united front, they are anything but, according to a report from Channel 7’s Mitch Cleary.
On Wednesday, Swans chief executive Matthew Pavlich stressed his club was “not abandoning our players”, adding the five that’d been stood down would be allowed back at the football club “at the right time”.
However, Cleary stated that despite the club’s public stance, there was “a strong level of resentment” from teammates.
“Although you’ll hear over the coming days key personnel from the Swans say they’re supporting their teammates and a wrapping of arms around these players, (but) I understand there’s a strong level of resentment from the teammates,” Cleary told Channel 7 on Wednesday night.
“This is a footy club that saw this year as one of redemption after two Grand Final defeats in the last four years. The players are severely upset and disappointed with their teammates as to the situation the entire club now finds themselves in.”
“I think it’s a fair punishment too. To be thinking that after a game of footy, with finals only a few weeks away, that you go out to all hours and behave in that manner, I think they couldn’t play another game of football this year and the club did what they had to do,” Lloyd told the Today show on Thursday.
“In terms of moving on players, yeah. I just think they’ve lost so much respect.
“I’ll be staggered if some of those players, if not all of them, are (not) moved on at the end of the season.”
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