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Prosecutors are seeking a sentence of six months behind bars for Canadian auto parts mogul Frank Stronach on the historical offence of indecent assault.
In a sentencing hearing this morning, Crown attorney Jelena Vlacic said there are several aggravating factors in the case, including that the indecent assault was “sudden and disorienting” and had an enduring impact on the complainant.
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She also pointed to the 20-year age gap between Stronach and the complainant, who was 25 at the time of the incident in 1977.
Vlacic also noted several mitigating factors, such as Stronach’s lack of criminal record before the offence and his role as a high-profile business leader who for decades represented one of Canada’s biggest success stories.
She argued, however, that the court should give limited weight to more than a dozen character reference letters from former employees and other supporters who state they never saw Stronach behave inappropriately toward women.
Stronach’s defence lawyer, Leora Shemesh, argued the Crown’s position is “excessive” as she began making her own submissions on sentence.
The hearing takes place even as prosecutors are challenging the judge’s decision to declare a rare post-verdict mistrial on Stronach’s sexual assault conviction.
Stronach, who is 94, was found guilty in June of both charges, which relate to separate allegations brought by two of the women in his Toronto criminal trial.
Weeks later, Superior Court Justice Anne Molloy granted the mistrial on the sexual assault conviction after emails from the complainant’s lawyer in a separate civil case were presented in court.
Stronach’s lawyer argued those emails told a story that was inconsistent with the woman’s testimony in the criminal trial. At the time, Shemesh told The Canadian Press that the court did not hear from the complainant before the judge made her decision.
The Crown’s appeal argues the guilty verdict on the sexual assault charge should be restored and the case sent back to Superior Court for sentencing.
The billionaire businessman initially faced 12 charges related to allegations brought by seven complainants and dating as far back as the late 1970s. The Crown later withdrew one charge and agreed Stronach should be found not guilty on four more.
Soon after, Molloy said she couldn’t convict Stronach on two charges related to one complainant whose evidence she deemed unreliable.
Five charges related to three complainants remained, and Stronach was found guilty of two, until the mistrial was granted.
He is set to stand trial before a jury in Newmarket, Ont., next year in a sexual assault case involving six complainants.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2026.
