Witness felt ‘apprehensive’ about reporting alleged assault by Toronto city councillor, court hears | CBC News

WARNING: This article may affect those who have experienced​ ​​​sexual violence or know someone affected by it.

A Crown witness in the trial of Michael Thompson testified Friday that she didn’t tell anyone, including police, after learning that the Toronto city councillor had allegedly sexually assaulted a woman at a Muskoka cottage because she is used to handling things on her own.

Court previously heard during cross-examination that the witness, a 24-year-old university student, didn’t proactively report that the two women who are complainants in the case told her that Thompson had sexually assaulted them in separate incidents at the Canada Day weekend gathering in 2022.

Instead, she shared the information after investigators contacted her in the course of their investigation.

During re-examination Friday, Crown attorney Mareike Newhouse asked the witness to clarify why she didn’t call family, police or friends after the first complainant told her Thompson had allegedly digitally penetrated her while putting sunscreen on her and giving her a massage.

“I guess it’s because I’m used to dealing with many situations of stress by myself. I’m used to having to be my own protector,” the witness said. “I feel apprehensive about asking for help oftentimes … I thought I could just make sense of things and navigate things myself at the time.”

Thompson, 64, who represents Scarborough Centre, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of sexual assault in the judge-alone trial taking place in Bracebridge, Ont. Earlier in the week, the prosecutor alleged that Thompson touched one woman sexually during a massage without her consent and forced himself on another who was heavily intoxicated in the middle of the night.

The identities of the witness and complainants are protected by a publication ban.

Witness testimony, cross-examination concludes

The witness’s testimony and cross-examination, which took up the first three days of the trial, concluded Friday.

She previously testified that she visited the cottage at Thompson’s invitation to attend what she thought was a networking event where a mixed group of professionals would be present. But upon arriving, the woman testified, they were the only people there.

An older woman who was Thompson’s friend who later arrived at the cottage and made her feel like she was being groomed for sex trafficking, the witness said, comparing her to Jeffrey Epstein’s friend and convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell.

“This is weird and this is a grooming process going on,” the witness recalled thinking. “There were these weird mind games being played.”

Thompson’s defence lawyer, Leora Shemesh, probed the witness as to why she continued to communicate with the woman, asking her for professional advice after the cottage weekend, if she thought she was grooming her.  

The witness responded that she was testing the woman to see if she was a legitimate mentor who actually wanted to help her.

“What I deducted from these messages was she essentially did the bare minimum as a mentor for me,” the witness said.

Thompson showed women his ‘bouncy’ bed, witness says

On Friday, the witness also provided more details about the Scarborough councillor’s behaviour at the cottage, some of which she said made her feel uncomfortable.

“He was treating me differently than the two other girls and he was running this weird dynamic I couldn’t make sense of at the time,” she said.

She said Thompson directed her to take a photo of the two complainants, showing the two women in bikinis, one bent over while the other is behind her.

Shemesh suggested the photo was “racy,” but the witness disagreed, calling it “lighthearted and fun.” Shemesh suggested that Thompson wasn’t outside at the time the photo was taken and was “nowhere near you or any of the other women.”

The witness also said Thompson showed all three women “how bouncy his bed was … making it seem like this is a phenomenon.” 

She also said Thompson showed all of the women his massage gun and encouraged her to have a massage.

While the witness told police Thompson never touched her inappropriately, on Friday, she sought to clarify her response to a previous discussion about this during cross-examination.

The witness said she felt coerced into a situation where Thompson was using a massage gun on her, fully clothed, after she told him her upper back was tense. 

Following an objection from the defence, the judge didn’t allow the witness to add this to her testimony.

Outside the courthouse Friday, Thompson’s lawyer provided little insight into how his team felt about the first week.

“I think it went exactly the way it was supposed to go,” said Shemesh. “We got to hear from a witness and the case is still ongoing and we’re starting to get into the meat of the case.”

Court will resume on Monday, Oct. 21, when the complainants are expected to begin testifying.