WARNING: This story references sexual assault allegations and may affect those who have experienced sexual violence or know someone affected by it.
The seventh and final complainant in the sexual assault trial of Canadian businessman Frank Stronach is being cross-examined in a Toronto courtroom.
Court has heard from all the female complainants, whose allegations span the period between 1977 and 1990.
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.
He initially faced 12 charges but the Crown withdrew two charges — sexual assault and forcible confinement — related to the sixth complainant.
Stronach, founder of auto-parts giant Magna International, has denied the allegations and has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
On Monday, the seventh complainant, now 69, testified that she had met Stronach at Rooney’s, the restaurant he owned, sometime between 1982 and 1983.
The woman said that, the week after they met, they ended up going out to a restaurant at a Harbourfront hotel. She said that during dessert, she accepted Stronach’s offer to go back to his Harbourfront condo.
Once there, Stronach attempted to kiss her, but she rebuffed him, telling him she was “not here for the that,” the woman told court.
She said he then pulled her to a room with a cot, and she reluctantly followed him, She said Stronach, laying on the cot, pulled her on top of him. Stronach again attempted to kiss her and then put his hand up her dress, the woman testified.
She said she grabbed his wrist and tried to push his hand away. But Stronach became aggressive and mad and started ripping at the crotch of her pantyhose, until there was nothing left but the waistband, the woman said.
She told the court she was overpowered by Stronach and said to herself she had to “let this happen because you can’t fight him, you can’t push him off …. he’s got you trapped.”
The woman said Stronach climbed on top of her, unzipped his pants, took out his penis and raped her with no condom.
