Listen to this article
Estimated 2 minutes
The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.
The fifth complainant in the sexual assault trial of Canadian businessman Frank Stronach is testifying in a Toronto courtroom.
The trial, now in its seventh day, has heard from four of the seven female complainants, whose allegations in Toronto span the period between 1977 and 1990, with one specified as having happened in suburban Scarborough. All of the complainants are expected to testify.
Stronach, 93, faces a total of 12 charges, including sexual assault and forcible confinement. Two of the counts, rape and attempted rape, are considered historical charges as they were abolished when the Criminal Code was amended in 1983 to create the offence of sexual assault.
The judge-alone trial is being overseen by Superior Court Justice Anne Molloy. Stronach is also set to face a separate trial in Newmarket, Ont., later this year after the case was split into two proceedings.
Stronach, founder of auto-parts giant Magna International, has denied the allegations and has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
On Friday, Stronach’s lawyer Leora Shemesh cross-examined the fourth complainant, who had told court Stronach had sexually assaulted her at a Harbourfront condo when she was a university student working at Magna International in the summer of 1983.
Shemesh accused her of lying, rejecting her testimony that she couldn’t remember some details of the alleged attack. She suggested that the woman, instead of being sexually assaulted, had regret about the incident.
“That’s not true and not the case,” the woman said.
