HALIFAX – One of three women who accused Jian Ghomeshi of sexual assault outside his workplace says they were never given the option of seeking a peace bond instead of testifying during the radio celebrity’s two-week trial earlier this year.
Former ”Trailer Park Boys” actress Lucy DeCoutere says the peace bond process allowed complainant Kathryn Borel — a former CBC employee — to avoid being subjected to a withering cross-examination by Ghomeshi’s lawyer.
DeCoutere said Ghomeshi’s decision today to sign a peace bond in a Toronto courtroom shed light on a different legal avenue open for sexual assault complainants.
She says the peace bond process allowed Borel to tell her side of the story without having to endure the intense scrutiny of a public trial.
DeCoutere stressed that Ghomeshi’s apology does not shed any light on his conduct outside his workplace, and she says his expression of “deep regret and embarrassment” only relates to one specific incident.
The former host of the CBC show “Q” described his behaviour toward Borel as thoughtless, sexually inappropriate, demeaning and an abuse of his power as a famous star.
