Here’s What We Know About Jacob Hoggard’s Arrest and Sexual Assault Charges

Jacob Hoggard, the 34-year-old lead singer of Canadian pop-rock group Hedley, has been arrested and charged with multiple sex crimes. Here’s what we know:

His arrest is part of an ongoing investigation

Police first confirmed that its sex crimes unit had launched an investigation into Hoggard on March 16. After a four-month investigation, Toronto police arrested and charged the Hedley frontman on Monday morning. In a joint statement released by the Toronto police and the Peel Regional Police, it is stated that Hoggard has been charged with two counts of sexual assault causing bodily harm and one count of sexual interference. (Under the Criminal Code, the charge of sexual interference is only laid if the alleged victim is under the age of 16.)

The investigation will continue, as Police are concerned there are more victims than those included in the charges.

At this time, the alleged assaults involve two victims

According to the statement, the alleged assaults occurred on three separate dates in 2016 and involved two different women. CBC confirmed that one of the alleged victims — a former Algonquin College student who’s now 25 — is linked to the charges. The woman contacted CBC early this year to share her graphic story of alleged assault, which ran February 25, 2018 and now has 13,000 shares online. At the time, Hoggard denied the allegations in a statement from his lawyer, calling the sexual encounter “consensual.”

The alleged victim spoke with CBC again after Hoggard’s arrest. “I cried,” she said. “I just feel like maybe some sort of justice is going to prevail regardless of whether or not he’s convicted. People actually believe.”

There’s a mugshot

Twitter is pleased...

...but if you look, you can find fans who are standing by Hoggard

Hedley has taken an “indefinite hiatus”

On February 28, Hedley tweeted that they would be dismantling the band “indefinitely” in light of the numerous allegations against Hoggard, which include rape.

On the same day, Hoggard shared his own statement to his personal Twitter account:  “The way I’ve treated women was reckless and dismissive of their feelings. I understand the significant harm that is caused not only to the women I interacted with, but to all women who are degraded by this type of behaviour. I have been careless and indifferent and I have no excuse. For this I am truly sorry.”

It’s not over yet

Hoggard will appear in court on Thursday, July 26. Hoggard surrendered himself to the police, but it’s unclear if he will plead guilty to the charges laid against him.