Hedley frontman Jacob Hoggard’s trial on sex charges has been pushed to 2022 due to COVID-19.
The 35-year-old singer was due in court earlier this month but the trial was delayed until April because jury trials in Toronto have been suspended due to the pandemic. The trial is now set to begin on Jan. 3, 2022.
Hoggard, who was charged in July 2018, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of sexual assault causing bodily harm and one count of sexual interference. He is accused of sexually assaulting two women on separate occasions in 2016. One of the alleged victims was under 16, the age of consent.
Accusations of inappropriate behaviour with female fans began to surface online in early 2018, causing Hedley to be dumped from the Juno Awards and the band’s songs to be scrapped from radio playlists.
Hoggard said in a statement: “I have never engaged in non-consensual sexual behaviour in my life. Ever.” But, he admitted that he hasn’t treated women well. “For this,” he said, “I am truly sorry.”
Hoggard tied the knot with Rebekah Asselstine on New Year’s Eve 2018. He was previously married from 2005 to 2009.
The B.C. native placed third on the second season of Canadian Idol before breaking out as frontman for Hedley. The band released seven studio albums between 2005 and 2017 that spawned hits like "On My Own," "Cha-Ching," "Kiss You Inside Out" and “Perfect."
Hedley has been on "an indefinite hiatus" since the end of its Cageless tour in March 2018.