The former leader of Ontario’s Progressive Conservative Party says he can disprove the allegations of sexual misconduct that led to his resignation last month.
In a Facebook post on Sunday, Patrick Brown wrote he has been investigating the allegations and can prove they are false.
“The first accuser told a story about an incident that she claimed took place in my second floor, upstairs bedroom with the door closed. At the time of the alleged incident, I lived in a ground floor, open concept apartment and there was no second floor bedroom nor a door to any bedroom. THIS STORY IS FALSE. Interestingly, I understand from the first accuser’s Facebook and from people we both know that she was housemates with a CTV reporter,” Brown wrote in the post.
He goes on to say the accusations made by the second woman are “absurdly false.”
“It was she who tried to kiss me, while the woman I was seeing was in another room. I stopped her immediately and offered to drive her home, which I did. There are at least three witnesses, one of whom even spoke to CTV, that refute the details of her allegations. CTV left that out of the story,” he wrote.
According to The Canadian Press, CTV Communications Director Matthew Garrow issued a statement acknowledging they are aware of the claims made in Patrick Brown’s Facebook post and the broadcaster says it stands by its story.
CTV News reported on Jan. 24 that two women had come forward with graphic sexual misconduct allegations against Brown.
The first alleged incident happened more than 10 years ago and involved a woman who was a high school student in Barrie at the time.
The woman, who is now 29, claimed she had been drinking when Brown, who was not drinking at the time, asked her to perform oral sex on him.
The news outlet said the second accuser claimed she was working in Brown’s constituency office when he sexually assaulted her at his home after an event she helped organize. The woman said she did not report the alleged incident to authorities.
CTV News said it had viewed records of correspondence between Brown and the women.
Brown stepped down in late January and was asked to take a leave of absence from the PC caucus.
Vic Fedeli stepped into the role of interim leader but said he would not be running for the permanent position. Fedeli said in a news conference that he had seen enough “rot” within the party and that he was going to focus on cleaning that up instead of worrying about the party’s leadership election in March, let alone the provincial election in June.
Caroline Mulroney, Christine Elliott and Doug Ford have all entered the leadership race.
Candidates have until Feb. 16 to register. The party will decide its new leader on March 10th.
