The 37-year-old entertainer was found guilty Sunday night of a 2016 charge of sexual assault causing bodily harm against an Ottawa woman in Toronto.
Jacob Hoggard appeared sleepy from his Vancouver home with his wife and a friend for his Monday morning virtual hearing.
After hearing the arguments of both parties, Justice Gillian Roberts, of the Superior Court of Ontario, recalls that the cause of the Crown is no longer theoretical but very real
and that the accused committed a very serious crime for which he was found guilty at the end of his trial.
A crime for which he faces a severe penalty
she continues, explaining that the situation has now changed since Sunday evening.
Jacob Hoggard testified for two days in his own trial last month.
Photo: The Canadian Press/Alexandra Newbould
—
The magistrate says it is necessary to maintain public confidence in the administration of justice and at the same time ensure that Jacob Hoggard does not disappear into thin air awaiting his punishment.
It therefore imposes a series of very strict conditions on him to which he must submit, failing which he will be imprisoned again. She admits that the singer has forged close ties with members of his community
.
Jacob Hoggard will have to post $200,000 bail and stay in British Columbia. It was his wife who disbursed the necessary funds by mortgaging their residence.
Singer Jacob Hoggard at the opening of the trial, May 5, 2022
Photo: The Canadian Press/Alexandra Newbould
—
The singer will be subject to a night curfew from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. and can only reside at two addresses: his family residence and that of the friend in question.
The judge therefore rejects the defense’s idea of letting his client go and live from June 15 to 30 in an isolated hamlet on the Gulf of Alaska, where his wife works with an Aboriginal community.
The singer will therefore have to stay with his son at his residence in Vancouver and Ms. Asselstine will have to separate from her baby for two weeks.
Defense attorney Megan Savard cross-examines second plaintiff; the accused and his wife are behind her.
Photo: The Canadian Press/Alexandra Newbould
—
Moreover, Jacob Hoggard cannot leave the country under any circumstances and his passport has been seized. He will therefore only be able to travel to Toronto for his upcoming court hearings.
Finally, the musician cannot enter into direct or indirect communication with his 29-year-old victim in Ottawa, nor even visit the national capital.
Crown Disappointment
Prosecutor Jill Witkin wanted to send Jacob Hoggard back to prison because of the risk of recidivism and of hit and run that he represents, according to her, while awaiting his sentencing.
She recalled that the artist faces another charge of sexual assault causing injury to a third complainant (this information had been kept secret until the deliberations of the jury, Ed).
The alleged facts in this case allegedly took place in June 2016 in Kirkland Lake, 300 km from Sudbury.
Crown Attorney Jill Witkin makes her closing arguments to the jury on May 27, 2022.
Photo: The Canadian Press/Alexandra Newbould
—
Jacob Hoggard was also acquitted at the end of the same trial of two other charges of a sexual nature against a teenager from the Toronto area.
However, he cannot, in accordance with the conditions imposed by the Court, communicate with it.
The Crown and defense are due to meet with the judge again next Friday to confirm a date for the singer’s sentencing hearing.
The Crown has 30 days to appeal both acquittals.
Jacob Hoggard faces a maximum of 14 years in prison.
–
