FILE PHOTO - Jacob Hoggard is pictured in this undated Toronto Police Service handout photo. A new trial date has been set for Jacob Hoggard, the frontman for the Canadian rock band Hedley, who is charged with sex-related offences. Hoggard's trial was initially set to begin this week but is now slated to start on April 12, 2020 with pre-trial motions scheduled later this month.
Image Credit: THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, Toronto Police Service
January 07, 2021 - 9:41 AM
A new trial date has been set for Jacob Hoggard, the frontman for the Canadian rock band Hedley, who is charged with sex-related offences.
Hoggard's trial was initially set to begin this week but is now slated to start on April 12, with pre-trial motions scheduled later this month.
The singer was arrested and charged in 2018 in connection with alleged incidents involving a woman and a teenager.
Hoggard pleaded not guilty at his preliminary hearing to sexual assault causing bodily harm and sexual interference.
He has opted to be tried by a jury rather than a judge alone.
The complainants cannot be identified due to a publication ban.
Allegations suggesting the musician had inappropriate encounters with young fans surfaced in 2018, prompting a police investigation.
Toronto police have said the charges relate to three separate incidents involving a woman and a girl under the age of 16 that allegedly occurred in the Toronto area in 2016.
Hoggard issued a statement in early 2018, before his arrest, denying he engaged in non-consensual sexual behaviour, but acknowledging he had behaved in a way that "objectified women'' and was "reckless and dismissive of their feelings.''
Hedley has been on an indefinite hiatus since March 2018.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 07, 2020.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2021