Advertisement 1

MANDEL: Councillor Michael Thompson takes stand at his sex assault trial

Get the latest from Michele Mandel straight to your inbox

Article content

Finally, long-time Toronto Councillor Michael Thompson took the stand to begin his side of the story that has branded him a lecherous man who sexually assaulted two women after luring them to a friend’s Muskoka cottage during the Canada Day long weekend in 2022.

Advertisement 2
Story continues below
Article content

Wearing a royal blue suit and tie, Thompson, 65, looked remarkably relaxed when he began his testimony late Tuesday afternoon in Barrie —  even though so much is on the line.

Article content
Article content

It seems a distant memory since the six-time Scarborough Centre councillor and former deputy mayor pleaded not guilty when his judge-alone trial opened in Bracebridge last fall. In her opening, Crown Mareike Newhouse alleged the politician promised mentorship and networking opportunities, but instead preyed on the two women after plying them with marijuana and alcohol.

The first complainant testified Thompson applied sunscreen by placing his hands under her bikini, touching her buttocks and then her breasts. The second woman testified he forced oral sex after she’d passed out naked and drunk in the wrong bed.

Article content
Advertisement 3
Story continues below
Article content

Defence lawyer Leora Shemesh first took Thompson through his biographical details, including that the father of two separated from his wife in late 2020 or early 2021. “We’re really good friends.

Shemesh eventually move on to the summer of 2022 and asked how he met the Crown’s first witness — the student, who is not one of the complainants, testified Thompson invited her to a networking event at the cottage but she arrived to find only one other guest who stayed for the first two days of the July 1 weekend and she believed the older woman was grooming her for sex with Thompson.

She said the politician repeatedly told her to feel free to “get naked.”

Thompson told a different story. He testified he was at a “packed” Yorkville art gallery in mid-June 2022 when the university student introduced herself.

Advertisement 4
Story continues below
Article content

They exchanged numbers, he said, to meet up later and join others heading to a nearby restaurant. When they both were leaving at the same time, Thompson learned she’d missed her bus so he offered her a ride home north of the city. They spoke about her challenges of finding a part-time job and about her difficult background, he said.

When she told him she was having trouble paying her phone bill, Thompson gave her two $50 bills. “And by the way, this is not unusual for me to do,” he told the court. “This is something I would naturally do.”

Recommended video

Loading...
We apologize, but this video has failed to load.
Try refreshing your browser, or
tap here to see other videos from our team.

The young woman was very thankful, he recalled. “She gave me a big hug and a kiss on the cheek.”

But the student told a different story — that the money was unsolicited and inappropriate.

Advertisement 5
Story continues below
Article content

They planned on keeping in touch, he said, to further their conversations about him helping to connect her in the “cultural sector.”

Once again, he was quick to paint himself as just a nice guy, not a lecherous older man.

Read More
  1. Councillor Michael Thompson is pictured at Toronto City Hall on Jan. 23, 2019.
    MANDEL: Michael Thompson's accuser grilled over sex assault claim
  2. Councillor Michael Thompson is pictured at Toronto City Hall on Jan. 23, 2019.
    MANDEL: Woman accusing Michael Thompson of sex assault testifies she feared for her life

“It’s just a natural thing as a person in my position, as a person of colour and someone else of colour, we want to always help,” he explained, before launching into an anecdote about helping two women in his ward when their sons needed help.

Shortly before the Canada Day weekend, he said his friend, lawyer Calvin Barry, offered him his cottage. “I could invite whoever. It was a large cottage.”

Advertisement 6
Story continues below
Article content

Thompson invited the young woman — but said she was supposed to be one of many guests he’d asked.

“I didn’t just invite her, I invited her brother, her sister as well as her mom,” he recalled. But her siblings had bought tickets for a concert and her mom was going away with her boyfriend.

“She indicated that she didn’t want to actually go to the concert. She would love to go to the cottage,” he said..

Shemesh then chipped away at the woman’s contention that she’d been invited under false pretences.

“Did you ever frame for her that this was an opportunity to network?” Shemesh asked. “Did you ever suggest to her that she could get something out of coming to the cottage like employment?”

“No,” he repeated.

“As far as you were aware, when you were going up to this cottage, the people you were inviting, was it for work-related or networking purposes?” the lawyer asked.

“No,” he laughed. “I wanted to get away from work.”

Thompson’s testimony continues Wednesday.

mmandel@postmedia.com

Article content
Comments
You must be logged in to join the discussion or read more comments.
Join the Conversation

Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information.

Page was generated in 1.6396698951721