Coun. Michael Thompson has been found not guilty of sexually assaulting two women in Ontario cottage country three years ago.
Ontario Court Justice Philop Brissette delivered his long-awaited decision inside a courtroom in Midland, Ont., Tuesday, saying Crown attorneys failed to meet the burden of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Thompson, who represents Scarborough Centre, was charged two counts of sexual assault in 2022, following accusations from two woman after a Muskoka cottage weekend with him.
The 65-year-old man has maintained his innocence and denied several of the allegations while testifying in his own defence.
The trial has been drawn out over several months over scheduling issues faced by the judge, the Crown, and the defence. After shifting to Barrie in the spring, it resumed on June 24 in Bradford where closing submissions were heard.
During that hearing, Leora Shemesh, Thompson’s lawyer, accused all three Crown witnesses as lacking in credibility. She claimed they crafted a fraudulent tale and their attempts to besmirch her client’s reputation were nothing more than a witch hunt.
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Those witness, three women whose identities are protected under a standard publication ban, were guests at the cottage in 2022.
Two of the women were complainants in the trial, one alleging Thompson fondled her breasts and buttocks under her bathing suit while applying sunscreen. Another woman told the court Thompson forced oral sex on her and ejaculated on her.
Thompson denied both accounts and said he only applied sunscreen to one of the complainants when he was asked to, while denying the allegation of improper touching. He also said he engaged in a consensual sexual act with the other woman, offering a counter-narrative that she had woken him up and performed oral sex on him.
While there were different narratives offered, Crown Attorney Marieke Newhouse failed to meet the bar of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, Shemesh said.
During her closing arguments, Newhouse claimed it was Thompson who was presenting a false narrative, arguing he had been plying the women with alcohol and marijuana throughout the weekend, and accusing Thompson of lying when he testified that none of the guests were intoxicated.
The Crown also accused Thompson of repeatedly offering unsolicited stories of being charitable, not to clear his name, but as a performative attempt to appear as a benevolent civic leader for an audience outside the courtroom.
Newhouse also said Thompson’s assertion that the sex acts were consensual were fictitious and that he forced himself on one of the complainants when she had repeatedly said “no.”
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