Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
TORONTO (AP) — The third witness at the sexual assault trial of a former Canadian Broadcast Corp. radio host acknowledged that she deliberately misled police when she didn't tell them that she had engaged in some sexual activity with him after the alleged assault took place.
Jian Ghomeshi has pleaded not guilty to four counts of sexual assault and one count of choking based on alleged incidents involving three women. He is the former host of "Q," a popular radio show on culture heard in Canada and on many U.S. public stations.
The woman, whose name can't be published because of a publication ban, testified Monday that she had trouble breathing after Ghomeshi put his hands around her neck as they were making out in a Toronto park.
Later she met him again and they engaged in sexual activity but she didn't tell police or the prosecutor about it until this last Friday.
Do you agree you were being deliberately misleading to police, Ghomeshi's lawyer asked.
"Yes," the woman responded
She said she didn't tell police about it earlier, because "it was embarrassing" and she didn't think it was relevant.
Her revelation comes after the first two women in the case made revelations after Ghomeshi's lawyer produced damaging email evidence about their interactions with Ghomeshi after the alleged assaults.
Television actress Lucy DeCoutere, the second woman to testify, acknowledged Friday that she told Ghomeshi that she wanted to have sex with him a day after he allegedly choked and slapped her. She did so after Ghomeshi's lawyer produced pleading emails that showed she wanted a relationship with him. DeCoutere, a star of the TV and film series "Trailer Park Boys," also acknowledged she sent Ghomeshi flowers days after the alleged assault. And in a handwritten letter days later she wrote: "I love your hands." DeCoutere, who waived her right to have her name not published, had said she forgot about her emails.
The first woman to testify last week acknowledged that she emailed Ghomeshi a bikini-clad picture of herself a year after he allegedly sexually assaulted her, pulling her hair and punching her in the head. She claimed on the witness stand to have forgotten about the email and another flirtatious email she sent a year after.
Police launched an investigation in 2014 after more than 12 women contacted various media sources to allege that Ghomeshi had assaulted them. The allegations rocked Canada's vaunted public broadcaster and sparked a nationwide conversation about consent and sexual harassment.
Ghomeshi, who first gained fame as a member of the 1990s satirical pop band Moxy Fruvous, previously defended himself in a 1,500-word statement on Facebook, saying women consented to having "rough sex" with him and that he was the victim of a disgruntled ex-girlfriend. The CBC fired him.
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
