Jian Ghomeshi has been arrested. The CBC – his former employer – reports:
Former CBC Radio host Jian Ghomeshi was granted bail today during a court appearance in Toronto to face four sexual assault charges, among the five he faces.
Ghomeshi’s bail was set at $100,000. He must live with his mother and stay in Canada.
The charges come several weeks after he was fired by CBC.
Ghomeshi, 47, surrendered to police on Wednesday morning and was formally charged under the Criminal Code with four counts of sexual assault and one of overcome resistance – choking.
I hope Julien Blanc is paying close attention.
Toronto police Chief Bill Blair said he could not shed any more light on the charges.
“I have no additional information other than what was released by the office this morning,” he told reporters. “All matters will be dealt with before the court.”
Blair did add that police are encouraging any other victims to come forward
“I want to offer them my assurance that they will be treated with dignity and respect,” he said.
The police department’s sex crimes unit began investigating Ghomeshi on Oct. 31 after three women filed complaints alleging he was physically violent without their consent.
Coincidentally, or not, Ghomeshi has withdrawn his lawsuit against the CBC.
News of the charges against Ghomeshi came a day after it was revealed a $55-million lawsuit he launched against the CBC last month, after he was fired in late October as host of the program radio arts, culture and entertainment program Q, was being dropped. CBC has said Ghomeshi will pay $18,000 in legal costs.
But Ghomeshi is fighting the dismissal through the CBC union, having filed a grievance through the Canadian Media Guild.
CBC has said it decided to terminate his employment after seeing “graphic evidence” that he had physically injured a woman.
Ghomeshi admitted in a lengthy Facebook post, published on the day he was fired, that he engaged in “rough sex,” but insisted his encounters with women were consensual.
Since his dismissal, nine women have come forward with allegations, some dating back a decade, that Ghomeshi sexually or physically assaulted them.
Nine is a substantial number.
One is a substantial number.
It is – but from an evidentiary point of view, corroborating witnesses are a big deal.
Especially when a woman’s testimony is only worth a small percentage of a man’s testimony.
Given the RCMP’s history of (mis)handling rape cases, I’ll believe they are serious about this when he’s convicted. But at least it’s a start.
And given the history of Ghomeshi’s attitude towards women, I have to wonder if putting him in his mother’s house puts her at risk. In jail until trial is arguably better for all concerned, including him.
from an evidentiary point of view, corroborating witnesses are a big deal.
How many millicosbys is Gomeshi’s popularity rating?
… it’s a good thing the RCMP isn’t handling this case.
Strictly speaking they likely aren’t ‘corroborating’ witnesses. They are probably ‘similar fact’ witnesses.
Oh, yes. I was half-thinking that when I wrote it – it’s not really corroboration when it’s a separate story. But I went with it anyway because shortcut.
Just a reminder: Ghomeshi’s definition of consent is “I stopped hitting and choking them when it didn’t look like they were enjoying it.”
sigurd jorsalfar
Ha ha. Okay, my distaste for the RCMP led to haste in reading and posting. It’s not like I was defending Ghomeshi.
I’m just glad it’s being handled by a more trustworthy police force.
The point about corroboration is that Ghomeshi’s acts constituted an ongoing pattern. If he was accused of embezzling, you wouldn’t limit the investigation to a particular bill or check. Sexual predators do not fall to earth from nowhere, they have long trails of violence and criminality.
Investigating a rape as if it were a mugging, or a hit and run car accident is not enough. The perpetrator needs to be investigated, not just the specific incident.
And what did his mother do to deserve this?
The charge of choking to overcome resistance carries a penalty up to life in prison (story).
@johnthedrunkard 11
Yes I know what the point about corroboration was. The ‘ongoing pattern’ that you refer to is called ‘similar fact’ evidence in the law, not ‘corroborating’ evidence. Corroborating evidence is where a witness testifies about the same incident as another witness.
What his mother did to deserve this was she consented to it. She is his surety. That’s why he’s required to live with her, so she can keep an eye on him as a surety is required to do. She probably posted some (or even all) of his bail, which she risks losing if he skips. You can’t become a surety unless you agree to it. She could have said no, in which case Ghomeshi would have had to find someone else, or pay more bail (or maybe be stuck in jail, although that is less likely to have happened). He also had to turn over his passport and promise to remain within the province.
I was never so happy as to see the smile slapped off his smug face when he was arrested.