Controversial Rookie MP Kevin Vuong Breaks Silence, Says He Was ‘Naive’ By Not Disclosing Previous Sexual Assault Charges Dropped

Controversial rookie MP Kevin Vuong, who was fired by Liberals days before the Sept. 20 federal election, broke his silence.

In an exclusive interview with John Moore on Newstalk 1010, Vuong regretted not revealing to voters and liberal campaign officials that he had been charged with sexual assault in 2019 and that the charges were dropped.

“I was naive,” he told Moore, insisting that he thought that because Crown prosecutors dropped the charges, he didn’t need to reveal it.

Vuong has denied wrongdoing, but was removed as a Liberal candidate after Star revealed the incident on September 16.

But because the ballots had been printed, and the advance polls concluded, many voters were unaware that he was no longer the liberal standard-bearer on the parade.

He won 38.9 percent of the vote, defeating new Democrat Norm Di Pasquale by 2,157 votes despite a last-minute push from the NDP that included covering the trip with flyers and robocalls sharing Star’s story.

“I want to apologize to the people of Spadina-Fort York … to the Prime Minister and my former Liberal colleagues,” Vuong said in a conversation recorded at his constituency office in downtown on Wednesday and broadcast on Friday. by Moore in the Morning.

“I regret not revealing the charge that was dropped and I want to also apologize to the people who supported me for embarrassing them,” he said.

The MP, who has rejected repeated requests for comments from the media since Sept. 16, said he was “too eager” to be the first Liberal of Vietnamese-Canadian origin to represent voters in Ottawa and “made a mistake.”

A defiant Vuong told Moore that he would take his seat in the Commons on Monday, representing Spadina-Fort York as an Independent despite the cloud over him.

As The Star first reported, the plaintiff in the sexual assault case said she “did not have the energy” to proceed with a criminal trial. She maintained that her claims are true.

In his interview, Vuong declined to discuss the alleged events of April 8, 2019.

“I am not here to fight a previous accusation,” he said.

The woman did not know that Vuong was a liberal candidate until she returned to Toronto last summer and saw his face on red and white election posters in the King Street West area.

He was anointed as the Liberal candidate for Toronto’s key race in early summer after veteran incumbent Liberal MP Adam Vaughan announced his retirement.

Court documents show that the Crown Prosecutor withdrew the position on November 27, 2019, seven months after Vuong was indicted and before the case proceeded to trial.

“I met with the whistleblower on this matter for some time and with the officer in charge. (She) had various personal problems at this time, ”prosecutor Louise Collins told the court, according to a transcript.

“I reviewed this case again and decided that it would not be in the public interest to move forward.”

In an interview with Star, the plaintiff said she had several dates with Vuong after they met on a dating app nearly three years ago.

He said that on April 8, 2019, Vuong went home and the two watched a movie before going to bed and falling asleep.

Not long after, she said that Vuong woke her up by touching her.

“At first he touches my breasts and then he tries to drool all over my neck, and then he puts his hands down,” she said.

The woman went to the bathroom where she closed the door and contacted a friend, who arrived shortly after and told Vuong to leave, which he did without any confrontation.

Her friend has corroborated her memory of that night.

Robert Benzie is the bureau chief for Star’s Queen’s Park and a reporter covering Ontario politics. Follow him on Twitter: @robertbenzie