Canadian rockstar Jacob Hoggard, former lead singer of the band Hedley was sentenced to five years behind bars Thursday, for sexually assaulting a woman from Ottawa.
Ontario Superior Court Justice Gillian Roberts delivered Hoggard’s sentence and said she found his offenses involved “gratuitous degradation” and “gratuitous violence,” according to CNN.She went on to say she accepted the victim’s account in “its entirety,” according to CP24 . “Whatever fleeting moments of gratification Mr. Hoggard derived from his conduct, they have come at the staggering and utterly unacceptable cost of forever changing [the woman’s] life,” Roberts said, according to CNN.
BREAKING: Hedley frontman Jacob Hoggard sentenced to five years in prison https://t.co/L1VdFa16df
— CP24 (@CP24) October 20, 2022
Roberts explained the reasoning behind the sentence in great depth.
“It is no exaggeration to say that [the woman] is no longer the same person she was before the attack. She was physically hurt … far more significant was the psychological hurt,” Roberts said, according to CNN. She went on to note it was important that Hoggard’s sentence was proportionate to the gravity of his offence, and addressed the degree of his responsibility in this matter.
“It must be sufficient to reflect the inherent harmfulness of a manipulative and particularly degrading rape,” Roberts said, according to CNN. “In all the circumstances of this offence and this offender I believe a fit and appropriate sentence is five years,” she declared. (RELATED: REPORT: Alleged Victim Says She Was Bribed To Lie About Trey Songz’s Sexual Assault Case)
“I believe (the victim). I accept her evidence in its entirety,” Justice Gillian Roberts said in a Toronto court Thursday. https://t.co/WnGxpAktCr
— Toronto Star (@TorontoStar) October 20, 2022
The sentencing hearing unfolded over a three day period that began earlier in October. Hoggard’s defense team insisted he was a low risk to reoffend and said they believed he had a good chance of rehabilitation. They were asking for a four year sentence. The Crown was seeking a six to seven year sentence, which is deemed to be above the normal range for someone without a criminal record, noting that he was a risk to the public, according to CNN.
Roberts ultimately did not accept the theory that Hoggard was a low risk to reoffend.
“The Crown rightly points out that Mr. Hoggard was always impulsive and promiscuous, prior to and apart from his life as a rock star,” Roberts said.
Hoggard was also previously charged with sexual assaultcausing bodily harm against a young fan and sexual interference involving that same complainant, but was found not guilty on those charges, according to CNN.