A judge in Toronto has sentenced Jacob Hoggard, the former lead singer of rock band Hedley, to five years in prison for sexual assault.
Canadian artist Jacob Hoggard has been condemned to five years in prison by a Toronto judge on Thursday, the third and last day of a sentencing hearing that began earlier this month.
Hoggard who was the former lead artist and frontman of the rock musical group Hedley, was found guilty for the crime of sexual assault in June subsequent to assaulting an Ottawa woman in 2016.
The prosecution sought for a sentence of six to seven years for Jacob Hoggard which is above the recommended punishment for a offender with no criminal record, the reason being that they believe he is a risk to the general public. The defense on the other hand, advocated for a more clement sentence of three to four years showing the reports of a pysichiatric evaluation which showed he was less likely to be a repeat offender and could benefit from rehabilitation.
While delivering her sentence in the courtroom situated in downtown Toronto, Ontario Superior Court Justice Gillian Roberts said Hoggard’s offence involved “gratuitous degradation” and “gratuitous violence.”
“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,” said Judge Roberts.
Continuing her statement, the Judge also said “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.”
The judge also made it known that she believed the woman’s entire account including that Hoggard raped the woman multiple times anally, vaginally and orally, choked her, spit on her, called her a slut and a pig and oinked at her like an animal.
The prosecuting attorney Jill Witkin cheered the sentencing, saying that “Mr. Hoggard’s conviction and sentence sends a message to our community that sexual violence will not be tolerated by our community, by anyone.”
Hoggard was also former l charged for the sexual assault of a 16 year old and sexual interference with another plaintiff but was not found guilty on those charges. He has also pled not guilty to this new charge and will be appealing the conviction.
