Frank Stronach, the founder of the auto-parts giant Magna International, has been found guilty of sexual assault and indecent assault. The charges date back nearly 50 years, according to the coverage of the case. He was acquitted on several other counts at the same time.
Ontario Superior Court Justice Anne Malloy delivered the decision in Toronto. She found Stronach guilty of two counts and not guilty on three others. The judge was said to be reading out a lengthy ruling that addressed a number of issues raised at trial.
The first conviction was for indecent assault in connection with an incident in 1977. According to the coverage, a woman testified that she had dinner with Stronach and went to his apartment, where he pushed her over the arm of a chair. The court did not release information identifying her.
In that same case, the Crown had withdrawn an attempted rape charge before the verdict. As a result, Stronach was found guilty of one count of indecent assault rather than the more serious charge. The conviction still marked a finding of guilt in the decades-old case.
The second conviction was for sexual assault, tied to an incident in 1983 or 1984. A woman testified that she met Stronach to discuss being fired from a Toronto restaurant he owned, then agreed to visit his waterfront condo. She said that when she tried to leave, he pushed her against the wall and assaulted her.
Stronach was found not guilty on charges connected to another complainant. That woman had alleged that Stronach raped her at his Toronto condo following a dinner nearby. The judge did not convict him on those counts.
Stronach, described as the 93-year-old founder of Magna International, is one of the most prominent businessmen in Canada, and the case drew attention because of his profile. The complainants were not identified in the coverage of the decision. Stronach never testified in his own defence during the trial, which had begun in February.
He was found free to go home pending sentencing, which was set for September 17th. According to the coverage, the case against him had been split into two proceedings, and he is due to face a second trial near Toronto, in Newmarket, Ontario, next year. That case is expected to involve six more complainants, meaning the legal proceedings against him are far from over.