‘This was a witch hunt’ Toronto councillor’s lawyer tells court during sex assault trial closing arguments

The sexual assault trial of Michael Thompson reached closing arguments as the defence made its case to Justice Philop John Brissette to find Thompson not guilty

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The sexual assault trial of longtime Toronto councillor and former deputy mayor Michael Thompson reached closing arguments as the defence made its case in a Bradford, Ont. courtroom.

Thompson, 65, is charged with two counts of sexual assault stemming from what police believe occurred with two women at a Port Carling cottage during the Canada Day long weekend in 2022.

“This was a witch-hunt,” said defence lawyer Leora Shemesh, who described testimony from three witnesses including the two complainants: inconsistent, contradicted, blurry, exaggerated and fabricated.

The complainants claimed Thompson touched and sexually took advantage of them three years ago when they were invited to a cottage getaway in Muskoka where they partied with Thomspon and his female friend. The women testified they were served alcohol and smoked marijuana with the councillor.

The defence argued however, the three women, presented three different versions of events and “fumbled their way through cross-examination” questioning. Shemesh told the court the women could not get their “manufactured” stories straight.

• Toronto Coun. Michael Thompson: ‘I never sexually assaulted anyone’

The defence told the court the witnesses colluded to fabricate a narrative that had “no basis in reality.” The women alleged Thompson got them drunk and high that weekend so he could have his way with them.

Shemesh called the story of complainant “ridiculous.”

The woman told the court, earlier this year in a Barrie courtroom. she was “blackout drunk” when Thompson woke her up in the middle of the night, took her to his room and forced her to perform oral sex on him.

Thompson is also accused of touching another woman on her backside and breasts while applying sunscreen to her body. The Crown told the court Thompson “molested” the woman.

The defence said there was no evidence Thompson did anything wrong.

Shemesh spent the majority of her submissions dismissing claims by a third woman who testified she was invited to the cottage getaway as a networking opportunity by a man old enough to be her grandfather whom the Crown said, wanted her sexually.

Thomspon described the young woman as a friend and repeatedly denied he had ulterior motives.

The defence called the woman “an actress” and “opportunist” who was trying to use Thompson to pay for her university debt and have Thompson help with her career. When Thompson told her the young woman he would not give her money, her mood changed, he testified.

Shemesh said the Crown, in its questioning of Thompson, tried to embarrass and shame the longtime politician with inappropriate and irrelevant questions about why he had invited the younger women to the cottage.

• Toronto councillor accused of sexual assault cries on witness stand

“This isn’t morality school,” Shemesh said. “It isn’t illegal for older men to be with younger women.”

The defence has maintained all along the Port Carling cottage weekend getaway was meant to be a “fun and relaxing’ retreat and not a networking opportunity as some of the witnesses claimed.

The defence argued Thompson told the truth on the witness stand and should be believed and said the Crown has not satisfied its onus and therefore Thompson should be found not guilty.

The Crown took aim at Thompson’s credibility calling him “disingenuous” when giving responses that seemed rehearsed, repetitive, almost robotic and “utterly unbelievable.” Crown Attorney Mareike Newhouse referred to the accused as “The star of his own show,” suggesting Thompson was more concerned with the image he was portraying of himself than telling the court the truth.

The Crown argued Thompson targeted a university student, by inviting her to the cottage; where he made her feel uncomfortable. Thompson denied telling asking the witness to test the bounciness of his bed. The Crown said Thompson sexually assaulted a complainant in his bedroom and the court ought to reject his evidence, arguing the witness and complainants should be believed despite inconsistencies in their stories.

Justice Brissette is scheduled to deliver his judgement in Midland in mid-September.