A woman accusing Toronto city councillor Michael Thompson of sexual assault denied under cross-examination that she consented to a sexual encounter during testimony yesterday in a Barrie courtroom.
“I just remember not wanting to do it,” the complainant testified, rejecting a defence suggestion that the interaction had been consensual.
Thompson, 65, faces two counts of sexual assault involving separate women during a Canada Day weekend gathering in 2022 at a cottage on Acton Island in Muskoka. Both complainants, whose identities are protected by publication bans, were invited to the event, which they believed would be a professional networking retreat. Thompson has pleaded not guilty.
Defence lawyer Leora Shemesh questioned the woman about inconsistencies in her statements and suggested she had initiated physical contact with Thompson. The complainant rejected those claims, stating she was heavily intoxicated and repeatedly told Thompson “no.”
“There was nothing consensual,” she told the court. “I made it very clear I didn’t want to do anything.”
The woman said she awoke in the middle of the night to Thompson moving her to another bedroom, where she alleges he forced oral sex on her. She testified that her memory of the events was incomplete due to her level of intoxication, but she recalled Thompson rubbing his penis on her face before ejaculating.
The complainant acknowledged giving Thompson her phone number the next day, but said it did not reflect consent. “I was never going to ever talk to him again, so I don’t care,” she told the court.
She also denied a motive for financial gain after Shemesh suggested she had considered a lawsuit. The complainant said any such comment was made in anger and not intended seriously.
Two other women have testified in the judge-alone trial, including one who alleged Thompson touched her inappropriately while applying sunscreen. Both women said they were provided alcohol and marijuana at the gathering.
Thompson, who represents Scarborough Centre and remains on Toronto city council, is expected to testify next week as the defence begins its case. The trial resumes Tuesday before Ontario Court Justice Phillip Brissette.
