The Ontario Crown in northeastern Ontario is proceeding with a sexual assault charge against Hedley frontman Jacob Hoggard.
Hoggard, born and raised in B.C.’s Lower Mainland, was charged in March with sexual assault causing bodily harm in an alleged June 2016 incident involving a 19-year-old woman. The charge surfaced in May.
A Crown lawyer told a Haileybury, Ont., court Thursday that the case would proceed with just a sexual assault charge.
The victim, who is now 25 and lives in British Columbia, told CBC News in May that the alleged rape occurred at a Comfort Inn in Kirkland Lake, Ont., after a Hedley concert. She cannot be identified under a court-ordered publication ban.
Hoggard’s lawyer, Megan Savard, has previously said that her client denies the allegation and will plead not guilty.
The next court date has been set for Nov. 24, after Hoggard’s lawyers meet with him and review the new submissions.
The singer was granted bail this month in a separate case after he launched an appeal of his five-year prison sentence for sexually assaulting an Ottawa woman.
Support is available for anyone who has been sexually assaulted. You can access crisis lines and local support services through this Government of Canada website or the Ending Violence Association of Canada database. If you’re in immediate danger or fear for your safety or that of others around you, please call 911.
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