Toronto councillor denies any wrongdoing at sexual assault trial

WARNING: This article contains graphic descriptions of an alleged sexual assault. 

A veteran Toronto councillor accused of sexually assaulting two women at an Ontario cottage in 2022 denied in court Wednesday that any assault took place, and instead testified that one of the complainants in the case initiated a consensual sexual encounter with him.

Scarborough Coun. Michael Thompson returned to the witness box at his judge-alone trial in Barrie and gave his version of events for that Canada Day weekend, saying no one present at the gathering was inebriated and nothing illegal happened.

The former deputy mayor is facing two charges of sexual assault for alleged incidents involving two women at the Muskoka cottage. Their identities are protected by a court-ordered publication ban.

One woman previously testified that Thompson touched her inappropriately while applying sunscreen, while the other said he forced himself on her in the middle of the night. Thompson has pleaded not guilty to both charges. 

Responding to questions from his lawyer, Leora Shemesh, Thompson repeatedly said no when asked if he had assaulted anyone, if he had pressured anyone at the cottage to drink, or if he had invited guests along with any sort of hidden agenda.

"Absolutely not," Thompson said. "I had no agenda."

'I felt trapped,' complainant testified

One of the complainants in the case testified earlier this year, and alleged that Thompson had forced himself on her after a day of heavy drinking.

The complainant said that at one point during the weekend, Thompson woke her while she was sleeping and took her to a downstairs bedroom. There, she said, he was "definitely trying to engage in something sexual," while standing close to her and touching her.

"I said to him, 'I don't want to do this,'" she said, adding she told him she worried about becoming pregnant in an effort to deter his advances.

The complainant said she laid down on a bed, still feeling the effects of the alcohol she'd consumed, at which point Thompson put his penis around her face and mouth and later ejaculated on her face and chest. 

"At that moment I was scared. I just knew I couldn't do anything," she told the courtroom, repeating that she had not wanted any sexual contact with Thompson. "I felt trapped." 

Woman initiated sexual encounter, Thompson says

Thompson, meanwhile, presented a very different version of events in court Thursday, and said the woman had spent most of the day touching him and flirting with him, as well as suggesting they hook up later in the evening.

"She was very forward, dancing, grabbing me closer, kissing me on the lips, gyrating with her body, leaning with her derriere into my frontal area," Thompson said.

The councillor said he eventually went to lie down that day because he was tired, and awoke to the complainant in his room, fully naked, asking him to come into the kitchen to have a drink. He followed and sipped tequila with her and talked about the view of the water, he testified, before following her down to a room in the basement, where she performed oral sex on him.

"At any point in your mind, did you believe she was not consenting?" Shemesh asked her client.

"No," he responded. Thompson said he believed the two of them parted on good terms, but he didn't hear back from the woman after that weekend.

Sunscreen incident also addressed

Earlier in the day, court also heard Thompson's version of events about another incident at the cottage involving a second complainant. While testifying late last year, she had said that Thompson had asked to put sunscreen on her while they were on the property's dock. The woman said she agreed to avoid making a scene, though she felt uncomfortable.

The woman said at the time that Thompson asked if he could touch her under her bathing suit after already putting his hands under her clothing. She testified she felt uncomfortable, but was "very intoxicated" and felt she couldn't say no.

Thompson, meanwhile, said Thursday that the woman was the one who had asked him to put sunscreen on her back, and repeatedly stated that no one at the cottage was inebriated that holiday weekend, though they had been drinking. He described the scene in great detail, down to which hand she was using to hold the bottle.

Thompson testified that he did not massage the complainant, nor did he touch any other part of her body other than her back.

Court finished for the day as the councillor was asked about when he learned he was being charged in connection with the case, and he appeared to cry in the witness box.

The trial is set to resume Thursday.