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A former singer in Canadian pop-rock group Hedley has been sentenced to five years in prison for sexually assaulting a woman in a hotel room.
On Thursday, Superior Court Justice Gillian Roberts gave Jacob Hoggard, 38, handed down the sentence to the musician for the 2016 attack,Toronto Starreported.
“I believe [her]. I accept her evidence in its entirety,” Roberts said, adding that Hoggard’s actions were “manipulative and particularly degrading.”
During the hours-long ordeal, the judge said the woman made it clear she did not want to have sex, saying “no, stop you are hurting me.”
She testified that he later hit her and pulled her off the hotel room bed before he used both hands to choke her.
On the first day of Hoggard’s hearing for his sentencing earlier this month, the survivor shared how his actions have altered her life, telling the courtroom she was “never the same,” according toCBC.
“A part of me died that day that I will never get back,” she said. “My life as I knew it was stolen from me and shattered beyond recognition. The assault took away my worth, my privacy, my body, my confidence and my voice.”
The woman — who sued Hoggard for $CAD2.8 million — said she was also persecuted for her accusations against the star.
Prosecutors asked for Hoggard to get six to seven years, CBC reported.
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In May, Hoggard was convicted of sexual assault causing bodily harm.
In the same case, Hoggard was found not guilty of groping a fan, 15, at the end of a concert and sexually assaulting her in a hotel room once she turned 16,Toronto Staradded.
Hoggard’s lawyer did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go torainn.org.
source: people.com
