Former Hedley frontman Jacob Hoggard receives five-year sentence for sexual assault

by Chandler Walter on October 20th, 2022 at 12:36 PM

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Jacob Hoggard, the former frontman of the Canadian pop rock group Hedley, was handed a five-year prison sentence Thursday for sexual assault.

The sentence was delivered by Ontario Supreme Court Justice Gillian Roberts after Hoggard had been found guilty of sexual assault causing bodily harm earlier this year.

The June conviction came after six days of jury deliberations, which resulted in Hoggard being convicted of sexually assaulting an Ottawa woman in a Toronto hotel room in 2016. He was also acquitted of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old female fan and of sexual interference against the same fan when she was 15.

Along with the five-year sentence, Hoggard also has been issued a DNA order, 20 years on the sex offender registry, a 10-year weapons ban, and must have no contact with the victim.

Hoggard’s lawyers plan to launch an appeal at 2:30pm today, according to a tweet from Global Toronto’s Crime Reporter Catherine McDonald.

Crown attorney Jill Witkin spoke to reporters following the sentencing.

“We take sexual violence very seriously as prosecutors. These are difficult offenses, but to that end we want to commend both complainants for coming forward to the authorities in 2018, for speaking to the police, and for testifying at the trial. This is no doubt a very difficult process, but it is a necessary one.”

All three accusations were made in 2018, which prompted a statement from Hoggard on Twitter on Feb. 28 of that year: “I need to be completely clear: I have never engaged in non-consensual sexual behaviour in my life. Ever. However, over the last 13 years, I have behaved in a way that objectified women.”