Women's testimony at Frank Stronach's trial expected to reveal pattern of unbridled sexual aggression, court told

Personal stories from seven women scheduled to testify at the trial of Canadian billionaire business titan Frank Stronach will reveal a pattern of his unbridled sexual aggression that not only proves each attack but also forms circumstantial proof of each of the other attacks, the prosecution told court Thursday.

The testimony of complainants is expected to allege common features, including most meeting Stronach at Rooney’s, a nightclub he owned, and all being taken to an apartment-style room with views overlooking Toronto’s waterfront where they were sexually attacked.

Julia Bellehumeur, one of two prosecuting Crown Attorneys at Stronach’s Toronto trial, said it was clear that each incident was non-consensual, including some crying and protesting, before he drove most home or to their car.

The Crown’s statements on the expected evidence opened the trial against the 93-year-old auto industry tycoon who faces 12 sex charges.

The first complainant then took the stand, a woman, now 66, being questioned by Jelena Vlacic, the second prosecutor.

The court placed a publication ban on the identities of the women and they are referred to only by initials in the indictments.

Stronach has denied the allegations and pleaded not guilty to all charges. He arrived at court wearing a black suit over a light blue shirt with an open collar, accompanied by a large male minder.

Stronach faces 12 charges at the trial, alleging sex attacks against seven women from 1977 to 1990. The charges included rape, indecent assault, forcible confinement, and sexual assault.

The outdated charge of “rape,” which was abolished from Canada’s Criminal Code in 1983 and replaced with sexual assault, means the charge deals with alleged events prior to the change in law. Historical charges must be prosecuted as the law existed at the time of the alleged offence, which could make prosecution, and defence, more difficult.

Stronach became a famous figure over decades as the founder of Magna International, an automobile parts company that became a global juggernaut and made him one of Canada’s richest people. His high status and deep interest in expounding his ideals pushed Stronach’s influence beyond the boardroom and into politics and the public sphere.

In 1997, he was paid as much as the bosses of all the big three automakers — General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler — combined and said he deserved it because he was smarter and worked harder than all of them.

Stronach was writing a weekly column for National Post at the time he was charged. The column has been suspended.

His trial was set to begin Feb. 5 but when court convened the trial was delayed after Stronach’s lawyer, Leora Shemesh, alleged the prosecution improperly coached female witnesses who are set to testify against him.

Shemesh said witness preparation meetings between prosecutors and the complainants, held two weeks before, potentially tainted witness testimony to such a degree that she will file a motion to stay the charges for an abuse of process.

Ontario Superior Court Judge Anne Molloy said she would hear arguments on the stay motion after the evidence has been heard at the trial but before rendering her decision.

This is the first of two trials Stronach is expected to face this year after he was charged with two sets of similar charges within weeks of each other. A second trial is expected later this year in Newmarket, Ont., north of Toronto, where the headquarters of Magna International is located.

The trial continued into the afternoon and is expected to last four weeks.

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