Former Hedley bandleader Jacob Hoggard has been sentenced to five years in prison for sexual assault.
UPDATE (10/21, 2:00 p.m. ET): Hoggard was released on bail yesterday evening, pending an appeal.
On the third and final day of a sentencing hearing that began earlier this month, Toronto judge Gillian Roberts ruled. "I believe (the victim)," Roberts reportedly said in court. "I accept her evidence in its entirety."
While the Crown was looking to sentence Hoggard to six or seven years in prison, the defence had proposed three to four years. He was also sentenced to 20 years on the sex offender registry, a DNA order, a 10-year weapons ban and no contact with the victim.
In June, a jury found the musician guilty on one count of sexual assault causing bodily harm after a week of deadlocked deliberations. The complainant, from Ottawa, was in her early twenties when he assaulted her in a hotel room in Toronto in November 2006. Earlier this month, she shared plans to sue Hoggard.
He was also found not guilty on two charges from another complainant: one of sexual interference in regards to touching the fan when she was 15, and another count of sexual assault causing bodily harm when she was 16. He pleaded not guilty to all three counts.
August saw Hoggard return to court in Kirkland Lake, ON, to face trial for another charge of sexual assault causing bodily harm from a third complainant, with the alleged incident dating back to 2016.
UPDATE (10/21, 2:00 p.m. ET): Hoggard was released on bail yesterday evening, pending an appeal.
On the third and final day of a sentencing hearing that began earlier this month, Toronto judge Gillian Roberts ruled. "I believe (the victim)," Roberts reportedly said in court. "I accept her evidence in its entirety."
While the Crown was looking to sentence Hoggard to six or seven years in prison, the defence had proposed three to four years. He was also sentenced to 20 years on the sex offender registry, a DNA order, a 10-year weapons ban and no contact with the victim.
In June, a jury found the musician guilty on one count of sexual assault causing bodily harm after a week of deadlocked deliberations. The complainant, from Ottawa, was in her early twenties when he assaulted her in a hotel room in Toronto in November 2006. Earlier this month, she shared plans to sue Hoggard.
He was also found not guilty on two charges from another complainant: one of sexual interference in regards to touching the fan when she was 15, and another count of sexual assault causing bodily harm when she was 16. He pleaded not guilty to all three counts.
August saw Hoggard return to court in Kirkland Lake, ON, to face trial for another charge of sexual assault causing bodily harm from a third complainant, with the alleged incident dating back to 2016.
