Billionaire businessman Frank Stronach has been found guilty of sexual assault and indecent assault, following a trial in Toronto that involved seven complainants and stretched over several months.
Stronach, 93, had pleaded not guilty to 12 charges. By the time closing arguments wrapped in April, prosecutors had withdrawn one charge and agreed he should be acquitted on four others. Superior Court Justice Anne Molloy then found the evidence of one remaining complainant unreliable and declined to convict on that basis, leaving five charges related to three women.
At a hearing Thursday, Molloy found Stronach guilty on two of those five charges.
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How the trial unfolded
All three of the remaining complainants had a connection to Rooney's, the restaurant and nightlife complex Stronach owned. One was a former employee. The other two said they first encountered him at the venue.
Molloy found him guilty on charges related to two of the three women.
Sexual assault: the former Rooney's employee
The first conviction involved a former Rooney's employee who reached out to Stronach in the early 1980s after being let go, seeking information about her termination. He suggested they meet for dinner.
Over the meal, she described him as feeling like a "fatherly mentor," but said she grew uncomfortable when he asked her to visit his nearby condo afterward. Once inside, she testified her heart was pounding almost immediately. When she insisted on leaving, Stronach helped her with her coat and groped her in the process, running his hands up and down her body and touching her breasts and hips.
Days or weeks later, she received a call offering her a job interview at Magna International, the company Stronach founded in the 1950s. She worked there for several years but had no direct contact with him during that time.
Indecent assault: a regular at Rooney's
The second conviction involved a woman who had frequented Rooney's throughout the 1970s and said she had seen Stronach there regularly. She testified that in 1977, the two shared a lobster dinner at the restaurant before he invited her to his apartment.
Inside, she said Stronach disappeared briefly, then she felt a push that sent her over the arm of a chair. She testified he lifted her skirt and she felt his erect penis pressed against her underwear as though he was trying to penetrate her. She said she freed herself by standing up, took her coat and purse, and left without either of them speaking.
Third complainant: not proven
Molloy found too many uncertainties in the evidence related to the third remaining complainant and declined to convict on those charges.
What comes next
A sentencing hearing has been scheduled for September.
Stronach also faces a separate trial in Newmarket, Ont. on similar charges, now scheduled for May 2027.
*With files from The Canadian Press
