'I realized I’m being raped': Witness outlines alleged attack by Frank Stronach at condo as trial begins

< warm>WARNING: This story references sexual assault allegations.

i of 7 complainants in the number one sex assault trial for Frank Stronach, which started Thursday, told the court she recalls waking up in a downtown Toronto condo with the billionaire businessman on top of her.

“I realized I’m being raped at that moment," she said. "I knew I hadn't consented to any of this."

The woman, who had been employed by Stronach and whose identity is protected by a publication ban, alleged she was sexually assaulted by Stronach in 1981.

Stronach, 93, faces a total of 12 charges, including sexual assault and forcible confinement. Two of the counts, rape and attempted rape, are considered historical charges as they were abolished when the Criminal Code was amended in 1983 to create the offence of sexual assault.

The allegations by seven women in Toronto span the period between 1977 and 1990, with one specified as having happened in suburban Scarborough.

Stronach, who was in the courtroom wearing a black suit Thursday, has denied the allegations and has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Under questioning by assistant Crown attorney  Jelena Vlacic, the woman told the court about the events that led up to the alleged attack.

She said she met two other friends at Rooney’s, a restaurant that Stronach owned. When there, she said Stronach appeared with a bottle of champagne in his hands. She said she recalled telling Stronach that she doesn’t drink but that she may have had a taste of the champagne.

The next thing she recalled, she told the court, was being on the dance floor. She said her head was “very woozy” and that she had no control over he body, that she felt drunk and discombobulated.

It was on the dance floor, she said, where Stronach then penetrated her vagina with his fingers. She said she was in pain, that he was holding her very closely, but that she was struggling against him and saying, 'No, no.”

The woman told the court she was then taken off the dance floor and shoved into a booth by Stronach, who again penetrated her with his fingers.

“He seemed like a octopus," she said. "I wanted to crawl away ... My body wasn't working, nothing was working."

Canadian billionaire Frank Stronach arrested, charged with rape

Her next memory, she said, was waking up, lying on her back and seeing her face in a dimly lit mirror above her. She told the court that she also saw Stronach's naked back and bottom and that it felt like someone was having sex with her.

She said she had no idea where she was, that she was trying to figure out what was going on and was "terrified at this point."

She told the court that she realized she was being sexually assaulted, adding that she never would have slept with an old man, particularly an old, married man.

She said Stronach rolled over and let her go to the washroom, and that she was "absolutely terrified" and "afraid for my life," all the while trying to figure how to escape.

The woman said when she left washroom, Stronach was dressed, and that she then put on her clothes. She said Stronach led her upstairs to windows that were facing the Toronto Islands.

Stronach, she told court, was just "chattering along," acting like they'd been on a date and "we'd had fun." She said he was blasé about what had happened.

"I was just horrified," she said, adding that she doesn't recall saying anything to him.

She said they then walked out of the condo and got into Stronach's sportscar that was parked outside the building. She said Stronach then drove her to her car, that was still parked at his restaurant.

The woman said she then drove to her parents place in Mississauga, but stopped on Queen Street to "yell and scream" and get the adrenaline out over what had just happened.

Before the first complainant testified, assistant Crown attorney Julia Bellehumeur outlined the allegations against Stronach. Some involved a similar pattern, with Stronach allegedly taking women to a Toronto condo, then overpowering and sexually assaulting them, Bellehumeur said.

Bellehumeur said that all the alleged incidents occurred without the consent of the complainant.

She said that Stronach "knew or was willfully blind" to the fact that they were not consenting.

The judge-alone trial, which is being overseen by Superior Court Justice Anne Molloy, was originally slated to start last Tuesday in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in downtown Toronto. It was delayed on the defence's request so Stronach's legal team could examine new disclosures.

His lawyer, Leora Shemesh, later argued that some of the complainants may have been coached during preparatory meetings with the Crown.

Shemesh has said she plans to apply for a stay of proceedings at the end of the trial out of concerns that abuse of process may have occurred in relation to the alleged coaching of witnesses.

Stronach, 93, an Order of Canada recipient, stepped down as Magna International’s chair in 2011. Born in Austria, he became one of Canada’s wealthiest people as founder of the auto-parts giant in the 1950s.

He's also set to face a separate trial in Newmarket, Ont., later this year after the case was split into two proceedings. 

Senior Reporter

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