'Absolutely not': Complainant denies having consensual sex with Stronach in sex assault trial

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

The seventh complainant in the sexual assault trial of Frank Stronach was excited about having a wealthy man take her back to his condo after their date, the Canadian businessman’s lawyer charged in court on Tuesday.

 “You are a 24-year-old who's very excited about a wealthy man taking you home,” Leora Shemesh said to the complainant during cross-examination.

 “What does that have to do with anything," the woman asked Shemesh. "I don't understand what you're getting at. 
And I don't understand why that is important to what actually happened. It doesn't matter if I was excited.

“What matters is he raped me.”

Shemesh said what matters is why the woman went back to his unit, to which she responded: "Maybe I was being polite."

Stronach, 93, faces a total of 10 charges, including sexual assault. Two of the 10 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, 93, faces a total of 10 charges, including sexual assault. Two of the 10 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.

On Monday, the seventh complainant, now 69, testified that she had met Stronach at Rooney's, the restaurant he owned, sometime between 1982 and 1983.

The woman said that, the week after they met, they ended up going out to a restaurant at a Harbourfront hotel. She said that during dessert, she accepted Stronach's offer to go back to his Harbourfront condo.

Once there, Stronach attempted to kiss her, but she rebuffed him, telling him she was "not here for the that," the woman told court.

She said he then pulled her to a room with a cot, and she reluctantly followed him, She said Stronach, laying on the cot, pulled her on top of him. Stronach again attempted to kiss her and then put his hand up her dress, the woman testified.

She told the court she was overpowered by Stronach and said to herself she had to “let this happen because you can’t fight him, you can’t push him off …. He’s got you trapped.”

The woman said Stronach climbed on top of her, unzipped his pants, took out his penis and raped her with no condom.

During cross-examination, Shemesh zeroed in on the date the woman had with Stronach and what led up to the woman agreeing to go back to Stronach's condo.

Shemesh referred to previous statements the woman made to police and the preliminary hearing, in which she said she agreed to go back to his apartment for a night cap and to talk about business or finance.

"I'm going to suggest to you that you were a secretary, and you're hardly going be talking about business with Frank Stronach," Shemesh said.

The woman said she was actually an administrative assistant at the time and had been involved in some pretty big deals.

Shemesh also focused on some of the physical interactions between the woman and Stronach before the alleged rape.

The woman did acknowledge to Shemesh that the two were holding hands through the tunnel connecting the hotel to the condo. But she said she didn't consider it a romantic gesture.

Shemesh also asked the woman about the kissing that took place between the two before the alleged attack. Shemesh referred to the preliminary inquiry, where the woman said that she kissed Stronach, he kissed her back, and then she pulled back.

"No means no, no means no," the woman said. "If I had kissed him passionately, and then changed my mind, what difference does it make?"

"I want to understand, there is an act that has occurred between the two of you consensually," Shemesh said.

The woman agreed.

Shemesh also asked the woman about her testimony that she was led reluctantly into a den with a cot by Stronach.

The woman said that she was thinking she could control the situation by giving Stronach "a few smooches" there, and then she would "be on my way. And we're going to be done with it."

"I take it that you don't tell him that," Shemesh said.

"No, I'm having this internal dialogue with myself," she said.

During that line of questioning, Shemesh showed the woman the layout of the condo. Shemesh said the layout includes stairs up to the living room, while the den was downstairs and attached to a very large balcony.

The woman said she didn't recall going up or down stairs and that what she was being shown didn't look like the place she was in.

"I don't think that's the unit," the woman said.

"Are you sure you were with Frank Stronach?" Shemesh asked.

" Oh my God, really?" The woman replied.

"Are you sure? " Shemesh pressed.

"Yeah, I'm sure," the woman said.

The cross-examination continues.

Senior Reporter

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