色色啦 Coun. Michael Thompson has vehemently denied sexually assaulting two women at his friend鈥檚 cottage on Canada Day weekend in 2022, saying one encounter involved the innocent application of sunscreen and the other a complainant who initiated and fully consented to their sexual activity.
In his testimony Wednesday at the Barrie courthouse, the 65-year-old politician appeared composed and relaxed responding to his lawyer鈥檚 questions 鈥 until the end of the day, when he grew emotional describing a phone call from the OPP telling him he was being charged with two counts of sexual assault.
At first, Thompson said he thought a police officer was playing a joke.
鈥淚 was literally shocked and I didn鈥檛 know what to do,鈥 he said, his voice cracking mid-sentence as he recalled that he was alone in his car at the time.
It was as if his whole world was 鈥渏ust crushed,鈥 he said, fighting back tears. At this, his lawyer, Leora Shemesh, suggested it was an appropriate time to finish before cross-examination begins Thursday.
Throughout his testimony, Thompson portrayed the long weekend at the Muskoka cottage as a 鈥減leasurable, relaxing time鈥 while sprinkling vigorous denials about his alleged conduct. Several times, he interrupted his own lawyer, politely asking if he could add details he wanted to judge to hear. He stated repeatedly that he doesn鈥檛 drink a lot of alcohol, chuckled to convey his opinion of some of the allegations and bristled when asked if his guests were intoxicated.
Thompson also suggested the complainants may have fabricated their claims out of resentment, pointing to what he described as one guest鈥檚 disappointment over an expectation he鈥檇 help her financially and another over an unfulfilled political favour to a friend.
Here鈥檚 a summary of Thompson鈥檚 evidence:
Thompson鈥檚 response to Complainant No. 1
Thompson testified Wednesday that he met the first complainant at a restaurant in the spring of 2022. She was in her early 30s and knew he was a city councillor and deputy mayor, having worked at city hall as a former staffer. He didn鈥檛 know her. (The identities of both complainants and a key witness are covered under a publication ban.)
When she testified last fall at the Bracebridge courthouse, the first complainant said she believed the cottage weekend would be a 鈥済ood opportunity to meet more people in City Hall circles.鈥 Except when she and a friend arrived, they thought it 鈥渙dd鈥 to find only Thompson with a young woman, then 22.
The complainant, who is in her 30s, testified that while she and the two other women lay on lounge chairs on the dock, Thompson asked if he could rub lotion on her back. Instead, she testified, he applied it to her buttocks and breasts while she felt like she was having 鈥渁n out-of-body experience.鈥
色色啦 Coun. Michael Thompson speaks with his lawyer Leora Shemesh outside the Bracebridge courthouse on Oct. 7, 2024.
Tannis Toohey for the 色色啦 StarOn Wednesday, Thompson denied this, saying she asked him if he could apply the sunscreen.
鈥淚 put a dab in my hand,鈥 he said, rubbing his hands together, 鈥渁nd basically just put it on her back.鈥
She never turned over, he never touched her buttocks or breasts, legs, arms, and he never wanted to touch her sexually, he said, adding that she thanked him.
Thompson was also adamant that he did not coax her to drink booze or smoke pot, as she鈥檇 claimed.
He said during one conversation at the cottage, the complainant mentioned that 鈥渉er buddy,鈥 was upset Thompson hadn鈥檛 been able to help him with a problem. 鈥淲hy could you have not helped him,鈥 he said she asked.聽
His response to Complainant No. 2
The second complainant arrived at the cottage with the first; she鈥檇 never met Thompson before.
In her early 40s, she testified earlier this year that Thompson woke her up a few hours after she鈥檇 passed out drunk, guided her downstairs into her assigned bedroom and became 鈥渁ggressive, but not rough,鈥 while trying to have sex with her.
In her testimony, she said she repeatedly told him, 鈥淣o, no, no, I don鈥檛 want to, 鈥 but he pulled out his penis and rubbed it 鈥渁ll over my face and my neck鈥 and then ejaculated.
On Wednesday, Thompson painted a much different picture.
During the day, he said, she was 鈥渇riendly,鈥 kissing him on the cheek and lips while they were outside, dancing and gyrating when they moved indoors and telling him, 鈥淚 wish I had a friend who had a cottage like this.鈥 Another time when they were alone in the kitchen, she 鈥減ut her hands in my shorts鈥 and said that when the others went to bed, 鈥渨e should get together.鈥
Thompson said he went to lie down at 10 p.m. Hours later, he said, the complainant woke him up. She was naked, leaned over his bed and whispered, 鈥渁re you awake.鈥 They went into the kitchen, where she had poured two shots of tequila, he said. They were kissing, and she led him downstairs to her bedroom, where she gently pushed him onto the bed.
鈥淚t was a continuation of what we were doing for most of the afternoon,鈥 he said. 鈥淭his was more impactful.鈥
He said she began performing oral sex, but stopped before he ejaculated. She went to the washroom and had a shower, and, when she returned, asked if he had a condom. He said he didn鈥檛 and she seemed 鈥渄ispleased,鈥 Thompson said.
Next, Thompson said, the woman told him she was not 鈥渇or free,鈥 but he could watch while she proceeded to 鈥減leasure herself.鈥
Earlier this year, the complainant offered multiple denials when Shemesh put this narrative to her.
On Wednesday, Thompson added he found the woman interesting and hoped they would connect again.
His response to 鈥榞rooming鈥 allegations
Another guest that weekend was a 22-year-old university student. She met Thompson at a Yorkville art gallery weeks before the cottage weekend. Thompson sent her a text message, 鈥渢rying to get a small group of folks unwinding at the cottage.鈥 She testified he billed the weekend as a 鈥渘etworking鈥 opportunity.
The student testified there were 鈥渞ed flags鈥 at the cottage. She felt both Thompson and his older female friend were trying to get her intoxicated, which he denied on Wednesday. The student, he said, 鈥渉as been very untruthful to this court.鈥
Asked if he blew pot smoke in her mouth, or used a massage gun on her, Thompson said: 鈥淣ever happened.鈥 Nor was his friend trying to 鈥済room鈥 the student. He also denied telling her to 鈥渇eel free to get naked.鈥澛
But he offered a possible reason why the student turned against him. (She isn鈥檛 alleging sexual assault, but her evidence supported the Crown鈥檚 case that he was a predator.)
Before the two other women arrived, Thompson said the young woman told him about her career goals, her troubles with her father鈥檚 abandonment and the challenges she faced funding her education.
鈥淪he asked if I would help her with respect to school, helping her with money for school.鈥
鈥淲hat did you say?鈥 Shemesh asked.
鈥淚 told her I couldn鈥檛 assist her. She wasn鈥檛 happy about it.鈥
Thompson said her mood changed after that; she became 鈥渨ithdrawn鈥 and seemed upset.
When she returned to the city, the student sent him a text message asking him to reimburse her $30 for a concert ticket that she didn鈥檛 end up using because she went to the cottage. Thompson declined and didn鈥檛 communicate with her again.
Ontario Court Justice Phil Brissette is hearing the case.
Thompson has been a councillor since 2003, representing Ward 21, Scarborough Centre.
