‘Frank … please don't do this’: Woman tells court Stronach raped her in hotel room in 1990

< warm>WARNING: This story references sexual assault allegations and < warm>may strike those who feature experienced​ ​​​sexual violence or know someone affected by it.

A woman said she tried to fight back against Frank Stronach and repeatedly urged him to "please stop" as the Canadian businessman raped her inside a hotel room back in 1990, court heard on Monday.

“I kept struggling, fighting him, saying, ‘No, Frank, stop,” said the woman, crying as she told the court about the alleged attack.

 “Stop, please, I beg you, stop. Don't do this. Don't do this.”

The woman, who is now 71, was very emotional throughout her testimony, often bursting into tears as she testified.

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.

Stronach, founder of auto-parts giant Magna International, has denied the allegations and has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

The woman is the fifth of seven female complainants to testify. Their allegations span the period between 1977 and 1990.

On Monday, the complainant told court she had met Stronach through a mutual friend back in 1980. She said over a period of a few months, she would go to Rooney’s, the  restaurant Stronach owned, where she would see him there. 

She said she never really got to know him that well, other than when she might say hi at Rooney's.

The woman told court that she hadn't seen Stronach in years until she ran into him at a hotel restaurant located in Markham or Scarborough as she was waiting for a client, sometime in November 1990.

The woman said Stronach sat down with her, that they chatted for a bit, and he asked for her number. 

During that meeting, the woman, who had just months earlier given birth, told court that  she became very emotional as she discussed with Stronach her breakup with her boyfriend. 

The woman said Stronach was very understanding, tried to console her and suggested they continue their conversation in his hotel suite. 

She said she trusted him and thought it was a simple courteous invite.

Once inside the hotel room, she said Stronach slipped off her purse and jacket, put his arms around her and walked her backward to the bed. 

She said while she was on the bed, he started to undo the buttons of her top.

“I said ‘Frank, no no, this is not what I want, please don’t do this, I thought we were just going to talk, please don’t do this.’”

She told court she was trying to keep her top closed, but he snapped it open. She said Stronach then pulled her bra above her chest. He pulled her skirt to her chest, then pulled off her underwear and pantyhose, she told court.

She said she didn’t know how to defend herself, except verbally, by repeatedly telling him to stop.

The woman said his response was “something like, 'You'll be OK, you'll be OK. Everything's OK.'"

She said at one point, Stronach had pulled down his pants and used his legs to force her legs apart. 

“In fact, I had bruises afterwards on my knees because I was trying so hard to keep my legs together, tight together, so that he wouldn't be able to enter me,” she said. 

“But I wasn't strong enough.”

She said Stronach had intercourse with her, ejaculated and did not use protection.

She said throughout the alleged attack, she was crying, but that he was “just wild” and had become a different person from the gentle and kind man she had known.

“He became a beast," she told court.

She said the whole ordeal lasted between 20 minutes and half an hour. When it was over, she said Stronach kept asking her if she was OK.

“And I kept saying, ‘No, I'm not OK. I'm not OK.'
And he kept saying, 'Oh, it's OK.' Like, 'we'll get together again.'

And I go, ‘No, no, not after this.’”

She said Stronach escorted her to the door of the hotel room. The woman said she then went to the elevator, down to the lobby, got into her car and drove home.

She told court that along with the bruising on her knees, she suffered vaginal bleeding from the alleged attack. She also said she had some bruises around her waistline and neckline.

The woman said she never spoke or saw Stronach again. She said she decided to come forward to police in June 2024 after seeing a news item that said he had been charged for sexual misconduct related offences.

The trial continues, with the woman expected to be cross-examined by Stronach's lawyer Leora Shemesh.

Senior Reporter

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