Mandel: Jacob Hogard convicted of sexually assaulting a college student in Ottawa

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It was an incredibly amazing verdict.

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After six days of deliberation, ten male and two female juries accused former Hedley frontman Jacob Hogard of sexually assaulting a brutal rape of a 2016 Ottawa college student. discovered. A fan of her, she sexually touched her when she was 15.

But unfortunately, Hogard was not directly put in jail. Judge Gillian Roberts of the High Court said Hogard was convicted of “extremely violent behavior” and faced a third accusation of sexual assault that caused physical harm in March. Despite admitting, he was not ready to revoke Hogard’s bail.

Following the split verdict, Hogard appeared to have been struck. The former pop star, who once had fans all over the world at his feet, was shocked to look down at the lawyer’s table and sit in a chair as his lawyer, Megan Subard, whispered in his ear. ..

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The Ontario Court of Appeals is just a few meters away.

The crown will sue as well. Of the two plaintiffs, the one who seemed most convincing that she was a victim of violent sex against her will was 16 years old, starting in early May. Since then, many of us have rather been convicted of involving high school students in Hogard.

However, the longer the jury was, the more likely the carpenter Hogard, who is now married to his young son, could be acquitted on all charges.

The jury was clearly obsessed with the issue of consent and repeatedly returned to Roberts to ask about the laws surrounding the issue. They were particularly interested in how they relate to the Ottawa women they met on Tinder. At the Thompson Hotel.

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The jury seemed to be having trouble telling a lie during a long phone call that Hogard secretly recorded while Hogard was consulting a lawyer saying he needed stitching. She was trying to apologize for him, she explained, so she could put this nightmare behind her.

However, Hogard’s lawyer urged the jury to discover that she was unreliable and unbelievable.

The jury was so problematic that the jury told the judge twice that he could not make a unanimous decision in all respects. Roberts almost gave up after the second attempt to surrender, but both the crown and the defense urged the judge to instruct the judge to continue deliberations.

And they did so, spending most of the weekend listening to the replay of testimony from Hogard and the two petitioners.

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It looked like a very powerful Crown incident. When I went to the police in 2018, both women had an eerie similar story of rape and deterioration by another person, a famous celebrity who appeared to be a’monster’almost two years ago. I did not know. , “A” psychopath “from the frivolous and kind man they met online.

Wasn’t it a “coincidence” that two strangers living in different cities portrayed about the same sexual violence? Even if the pandemic was interrupted, they did not shake their claim and it took four years to finally be tried.

If that is not true, why and why would someone throw themselves into this torture?

Still, the jury did not believe in the poor teen, a young girl who had fallen in love with Hogard for years, promising love and a rainbow, promising to have children with her, and falling in love with the stars. .. She said she thought they would spend a day exploring Toronto when he sent a car for her on September 30, 2016.

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Instead, she tearfully testified that her crush had turned into a monster. Ignored She shouted to stop and called her “Dirty A little whore,He spit on her mouth, slapped her face, and repeatedly raped — leaving her bleeding and bruising.

He said he returned home earlier than planned just by pretending to be called early in his part-time job. Her girlfriend testified that she had seen her bloody underwear and her inflamed vagina. Her mom described her daughter who couldn’t sleep without the light yet.

Did the jury really believe that the high school student invented her detailed rape allegations from shame and humiliation and stuck to them for six years?

I don’t know what they were thinking.

But we know this. They found that Hogard was a rapist, despite his denial.

At least for Ottawa college students, he choked her, spit in her mouth, slapped her face, and attacked violently, ignoring her “no” and “stop” screams.

One woman has justice. And hopefully the Hogard will be immediately cuffed and locked.

As prosecutor Jill Witkin told the judge, perhaps when the court returned in August, the King was seeking “serious imprisonment.”

mmandel@postmedia.com