Canadian rock musician Jacob Hoggard has been found guilty of violently raping a young woman, but acquitted of sexually assaulting a second, while facing a new third charge of sexual assault.
After a one-month, six-day deliberation, a Toronto jury issued its verdict Sunday evening in a court case that heard the testimony of the two victims recounting their alleged violent encounters with Hoggard, l former leader of the Canadian rock band Hedley.
While the kidnapped jury was deliberating, it was learned that Hoggard had been charged in March with a third alleged sexual assault, after a woman testified accusing the singer of raping her when she was 19 years old.
The court did not inform the jury of the new charge.
On Sunday, the 37-year-old man was found guilty of sexual assault that caused bodily harm in the case of an Ottawa woman who testified that Hoggard raped her in 2016 when she was 20 years old.
In this case, the woman stated that she and Hoggard connected to Tinder and that she knew that she was with him in Toronto to have sex, but that she did not consent to the events that took place.
She told the court that Hoggard raped her anal, vaginal and oral without a condom, drowned her so much she couldn’t breathe, and dragged her by the legs to the bathroom. “I thought he could kill me,” he told the court. After apologizing for the next few days, Hoggard blocked his number.
The jury acquitted Hoggard of two other charges: sexual touching of a minor and sexual assault causing bodily harm, related to a younger accuser.
The young woman testified that Hoggard felt her behind the scenes of a show in the arena when she was 15 and then raped her after she turned 16.
She stated that shortly after the age of 16, she met Hoggard in a hotel room in Toronto where he raped her orally and vaginally, and tried to rape her anal. The jury did not convict him of these charges.
In both cases, Hoggard asserted that “passionate sex” was consensual. The two women did not know each other.
Hoggard admitted to lying to the teen for months after the arena show so he could have sex with her, saying he loved her and wanted a future with her. However, prosecutors were banned from using terms such as “prepare” and “attract” the courts.
While testifying in his own defense, Hoggard admitted to lying to both prosecutors.
When asked during his testimony if he was lying in the stands, he told the court: “To be honest, I’ve lied in the past to get out of awkward situations and to cheat on my girlfriend and I hope she doesn’t find out. , and I’m not proud of it, but this is a completely different ball game. “
In Canada, the judicial term “sexual assault” is broad to include rape, as well as sexual contact and harassment, such as slapping someone’s buttocks. Charges of sexual assault are measured in severity levels; Level 2, as in the case of Hoggard, refers to sexual assault that causes bodily harm.
Unlike the United States, jury deliberations in Canada are secret and jurors cannot talk about their individual verdicts.
Women’s names are protected by a publication ban.
The sentence and the conditions of bail pending sentencing have not yet been decided.
Hoggard is due to appear in court on August 4 in the case of the third woman.
The following organizations provide information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues. In the U.S., Rainn offers assistance at 800-656-4673. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers assistance on 0808 802 9999. In Australia, assistance is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html