WARNING: This story references sexual assault allegations and may affect those who have experienced sexual violence or know someone affected by it.
A woman who claimed she was raped by Frank Stronach decades ago said she briefly struggled with the Canadian businessman before realizing she was overpowered and would just have to “let this happen.”
“I realize at that point there was no out for me here,” the seventh complainant in the sexual assault case against Stronach told a Toronto courtroom on Monday.
The woman told court that as Stronach ripped at the crotch of her pantyhose, she said to herself there was nothing she could do to stop it, so she was going to “let this happen because you can’t fight him, you can’t push him off …. he’s got you trapped.”
The woman told court that Stronach got on top of her and penetrated her vagina with his penis.
She said she remembered crying throughout the whole ordeal — not wailing, but sobbing.
Stronach, 93, faces a total of 10 charges, including sexual assault. Two of the 10 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 allegations span the period between 1977 and 1990.
Stronach, founder of auto-parts giant Magna International, has denied the allegations and has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The seventh complainant, now 69, testified that she had met Stronach at Rooney’s, the restaurant he owned, sometime between the years 1982 to 1983.
She told court that she had gone there with her friends, something she would occasionally do, but happened to be sitting alone when Stronach came up to her and introduced himself.
The woman said they chatted briefly and then she agreed to go out on a date with him, about a week later.
6th complainant testifies in Frank Stronach sex assault trial
Canadian businessman Frank Stronach is facing 12 charges, including sexual assault and forcible confinement. Stronach has denied the allegations and pleaded not guilty to all charges. The sixth of seven complainants testified today in a Toronto courtroom.
The woman told court Stronach picked her up at her midtown Toronto apartment and they went to a restaurant at a Harbourfront hotel.
She told court that she wasn’t expecting any ulterior motives, that she just saw the date as a very interesting evening with an older gentlemen and expected it to be a social event.
The woman said that after dinner Stronach asked if she would go up to his apartment, which was connected to the hotel, and she agreed.
Once in the apartment, she said they went right to the couch in the living room, where Stronach attempted to kiss her.
‘That’s not what I came for’
She said she rebuffed him and told him that: “I’m not here for that, that’s not what I came for.”
The woman testified that Stronach then grabbed her hand and said, “come with me.”
At that point in her testimony, the woman asked Ontario Superior Court Justice Anne Molloy if she could demonstrate how she went with Stronach.
Molloy agreed and the woman showed how she was shuffling her feet while being pulled along by one arm and reluctantly being led by Stronach.
The woman said Stronach led her to a small room with a cot, where he pulled her on top of him and tried again to kiss her.
The woman said she was half-heartedly participating, but then Stronach took his hand and moved her dress up.
She said she grabbed his wrist and told him again: “No, I’m not here for this.”
She told court that she then said, “this is not happening,” and he replied: “Yes, it is.”
At that point, Stronach grabbed the crotch of her pantyhose and began ripping it, she said.
“The sound of that ripping I will never forget,” she said. “I knew I was cooked.”
The woman said Stronach was really aggressive, angry and mad during the attack.
She said she kept trying to push Stronach’s hand down, but he broke out of her hold, and kept “ripping and ripping and ripping” until the pantyhose were “annihilated.”
The woman said Stronach then climbed on top of her, unzipped his pants, took out his penis and penetrated her with no condom.
The woman’s testimony continues Monday afternoon.
Crown withdraws sex assault charge for 6th complainant
Earlier in the day, the Crown withdrew the sexual assault charge connected to the sixth complainant in the trial.
Crown prosecutor Jelena Vlacic said there was no longer a “reasonable prospect of conviction” related to that charge. Last week, the Crown withdrew a forcible confinement charge related to the sixth complainant.
The withdrawal of the charge came after Molloy ended proceedings on Friday following concerns about the complainant’s mental health.
That was the culmination of days marked by frustration from Molloy and Stronach’s lawyer Leora Shemesh. Both, at times, seemed exasperated over the complainant’s inability to focus on the questions and her interrupting and talking over Shemesh during cross-examination.
Stronach’s lawyer asks for not guilty verdict
Molloy repeatedly had to interrupt the complainant on Thursday to tell her to stop talking as she would veer off in her response to questions from Shemesh.
On Monday, Shemesh said that while she appreciated the Crown’s withdrawal of the charge, she asked Molloy that a not guilty verdict be entered. Shemesh said that verdict should be rendered, in part, based on new evidence that came forth on Friday.
Shemesh said the evidence includes “extremely detailed notes” from one of the officers who had taken a statement from the sixth complainant in 2006.
These notes, which had not been entered into evidence because they were mistakenly filed under the maiden name of the officer, were in “complete contradiction” to the evidence presented by the complainant at trial, Shemesh said.
Molloy said she would hold off on rendering the not guilty verdict.