Witness felt 'apprehensive' about reporting alleged assault by Toronto city councillor, court hears

WARNING: This article may affect those who have experienced​ ​​​sexual violence or know someone affected by it.

A Crown witness in the trial of Michael Thompson testified Friday that she didn't tell anyone, including police, after learning that the Toronto city councillor had allegedly sexually assaulted a woman at a Muskoka cottage because she is used to handling things on her own.

Court previously heard during cross-examination that the witness, a 24-year-old university student, didn't proactively report that the two women who are complainants in the case told her that Thompson had sexually assaulted them in separate incidents at the Canada Day weekend gathering in 2022.

Instead, she shared the information after investigators contacted her in the course of their investigation.

During re-examination Friday, Crown attorney Mareike Newhouse asked the witness to clarify why she didn't call family, police or friends after the first complainant told her Thompson had allegedly digitally penetrated her while putting sunscreen on her and giving her a massage.

"I guess it's because I'm used to dealing with many situations of stress by myself. I'm used to having to be my own protector," the witness said. "I feel apprehensive about asking for help oftentimes … I thought I could just make sense of things and navigate things myself at the time."

Thompson, 64, who represents Scarborough Centre, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of sexual assault in the judge-alone trial taking place in Bracebridge, Ont. Earlier in the week, the prosecutor alleged that Thompson touched one woman sexually during a massage without her consent and forced himself on another who was heavily intoxicated in the middle of the night.

The identities of the witness and complainants are protected by a publication ban.

The witness's testimony and cross-examination, which took up the first three days of the trial, concluded Friday.

She previously testified that she visited the cottage at Thompson's invitation to attend what she thought was a networking event where a mixed group of professionals would be present. But upon arriving, the woman testified, they were the only people there.

An older woman who was Thompson's friend who later arrived at the cottage and made her feel like she was being groomed for sex trafficking, the witness said, comparing her to Jeffrey Epstein's friend and convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell.

"This is weird and this is a grooming process going on," the witness recalled thinking. "There were these weird mind games being played."

Thompson's defence lawyer, Leora Shemesh, probed the witness as to why she continued to communicate with the woman, asking her for professional advice after the cottage weekend, if she thought she was grooming her.  

The witness responded that she was testing the woman to see if she was a legitimate mentor who actually wanted to help her.