Crown’s damning indictment against Jacob Hoggard accused of sexual assault

Jacob Hoggard, who attends the hearings in a black suit, is charged with inappropriate sexual interference with a minor and sexual assault causing bodily harm to the same teenage girl and an adult woman.

Prosecutor Kelly Slate explains to the jury the circumstances in which the singer met the two plaintiffs, who do not know each other. Their identity is protected under a publication ban.

Slate says Jacob Hoggard met the first complainant in Toronto in April 2016 at a Hedley concert at the Air Canada Arena when she was still just 15 years old.

The teenager is there with her parents who accept that their daughter exchanges their telephone number with him during a meeting with the group in the dressing rooms after the show.

She had been a fan of Hedley since she was 10recalls the prosecutor who specifies that the singer touched the buttocks of the teenager during a photo shoot and that he tried to kiss her in the neck, but without success [les parents ne sont pas au fait de cet événement allégué, NDLR].

The teenager gives him her home phone number backstage. Their communications will soon have sexual overtones.

First alleged assault

According to the prosecutor, they will exchange flattering text messages and suggestive photos by phone and on the application Snapchat.

The singer tells her in particular that she is beautiful and that he sees a future with her. But she was too young to consent to anything.continues Me Slate.

The Crown alleges that Jacob Hoggard then arranged to see her again in September 2016. He flew her by limo to the Toronto area [un interdit nous empêche de citer la ville de l’adolescente, NDLR].

The complainant was then 16 years old.

She expected to have lunch with the band members and visit Toronto, but was instead invited to a hotel room near the airportsays Me Slate.

Prosecutor claims Jacob Hoggard forced her onto the bed and repeatedly raped her for long hoursburying his head in the pillow.

She cried and told him to stopshe adds, adding that he was spitting on her and calling her names.

Me Slate points out that the teenager called a friend when the singer went to get a towel in the bathroom and that she pretended that she had to go back to work.

She had blood on her thighs, bruises on her back and legs as she left the hotelshe concludes.

The prosecutor adds that the teenager did not notify her mother until a few weeks later and that the latter then took her to the hospital. The teenager will never contact the singer again.

Second alleged assault

The Crown later presented the jurors with the circumstances of the second alleged assault.

Me Slate claims that the second complainant met Jacob Hoggard in Ottawa believing that she recognized him on the street in November 2016. They exchanged their contact details and agreed to meet again in Toronto.

Arriving at the metro station, the woman, who is an adult, went to meet him in a hotel. She knew with full knowledge that they were going to have sexshe says.

The prosecutor nevertheless claims that the meeting did not go as planned and that Jacob Hoggard dragged her to the bed after kissing her.

She was raped, even by anal penetration, while he spat on her and insulted hershe points out.

Me Slate ensures that the complainant was not consenting and that she left the hotel after several hours. Upon arriving home in Ottawa, she too realized that she was bleeding and had bruises on her body.

The Crown called its first witness for the prosecution: a clinical psychologist. The D^D Lori Haskell explains the impact of such trauma on the human brain and on people who are raped.

From the outset, the D^D Haskell clarifies that she never met the two plaintiffs.

The trial continues.