(Toronto) Canadian rocker Jacob Hoggard was sentenced Thursday to five years in prison for a sexual assault described by the judge as “particularly degrading rape”.
Updated yesterday at 2:14 p.m.
In handing down his sentence, Ontario Superior Court Judge Gillian Roberts said the crime committed by 38-year-old Hoggard involved “gratuitous degradation” and “gratuitous violence”.
“It is no exaggeration to say that (the complainant) is no longer the same person she was before the assault. She was physically hurt […] but his psychological injury was far worse, Judge Roberts said.
“Whatever fleeting moments of satisfaction Mr. Hoggard gained from his conduct, they came at a colossal and utterly unacceptable price: to change (this woman’s) life forever. »
The Hedley singer’s sexual assault took place in a Toronto hotel room in 2016. The Ottawa woman told the sentencing hearing that what happened that day would haunt her for the rest of her life.
The Crown had asked for a sentence of six to seven years – above the normal range for a sexual assault committed by someone with no criminal record, the court heard. The lawsuit argued that Hoggard posed a risk to society.
Disputed psychiatric assessment
The defense had recommended a sentence of three to four years, brandishing a pre-trial psychiatric assessment report indicating that Hoggard was at low risk of recidivism and that he had a good chance of rehabilitation.
But the judge said on Thursday she did not accept the report by forensic psychiatrist Hy Bloom, retained by the defense, that Hoggard was at low risk of reoffending.
“The Crown rightly points out that Mr. Hoggard was always impulsive and promiscuous, before and outside of his rock star life,” Justice Roberts said. I agree with the Crown: we cannot say that Mr. Hoggard will never again find himself in a situation where he has a sexual opportunity, wants to validate himself and the impulse will take over. »
The judge clarified that the sentence should be proportionate to the seriousness of the offense and the circumstances, including Hoggard’s degree of responsibility. “(The sentence) must be sufficient to reflect the inherent harmfulness of manipulative and particularly degrading rape,” she said.
Outside of court, Crown prosecutor Jill Witkin hailed the jury’s verdict and the judge’s subsequent sentence. “The guilty verdict and the sentence send a message to our community that sexual violence will not be tolerated by anyone,” said Ms.e Witkin.
Hoggard had also been charged with sexual assault causing bodily harm to a teenage girl, as well as sexual interference involving the underage complainant, but he was found not guilty of those offenses by the jury. Hoggard had pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Prosecutor Witkin also thanked and congratulated the two women on Thursday for filing the complaint against Hoggard in 2018. “It’s a difficult, but necessary process,” she said.
The assault lasted “for hours”
A jury had deliberated for six days and twice deadlocked on “certain counts”, before convicting Hoggard in June of sexual assault causing bodily harm in the Ottawa woman’s case.
The woman, who was in her early 20s at the time, said Hoggard choked her so hard she thought she was going to die. She told the trial that the sexual assault lasted for hours.
Hoggard meanwhile pleaded consensual and “passionate” sex with the two plaintiffs. He denied suffocating the Ottawa woman.
During sentencing hearings earlier this month, the Ottawa woman told the court that the incident left her paralyzed with fear and despair for months. “I was never the same after that day,” she said. A part of me died that day, a part that I will never find again. »
After the decision was read in court on Thursday, Hoggard, dressed in a black suit and tie over a white shirt, walked up to his wife and kissed her goodbye. “Don’t worry, I love you so much, I’ll talk to you soon,” he whispered to her, hugging her.
The constables then handcuffed him and took him out of the courtroom, to take him to the cell.
Hoggard had already appealed the guilty verdict handed down in June. And Thursday afternoon, his lawyer asked the Court of Appeal for his release on bail, pending further proceedings. Me Megan Savard argued that the trial judge made several errors of law, and she argued that Hoggard was in no danger of disappearing.
The Crown opposed his release on bail, arguing that enforcement of the jury’s verdict and the judge’s sentence was paramount to maintaining public confidence in the justice system.
Judge Grant Huscroft took the matter under advisement.