Crown appeals mistrial in Frank Stronach sex assault conviction

TORONTO — The Crown is appealing a rare post-verdict mistrial declared last month in Frank Stronach’s sexual assault conviction.

The billionaire businessman was found guilty in June of sexual assault and the historical offence of indecent assault related to separate allegations brought by two of the women in his Toronto trial.

The mistrial on the sexual assault conviction was granted weeks later by Superior Court Justice Anne Molloy after emails were presented in court from the woman’s lawyer in a separate civil complaint.

Stronach’s lawyer Leora Shemesh alleged those emails told a story inconsistent with the woman’s testimony in the criminal trial.

Shemesh told The Canadian Press in July that the court did not hear from the woman before the mistrial was declared.

Stronach initially faced a dozen charges stemming from allegations between the late 1970s and 1990s and involving seven complainants.

By the time arguments in his trial wrapped in April, prosecutors had withdrawn one charge and agreed Stronach should be found not guilty on four more.

The judge then said she couldn’t convict him on two other charges based on the evidence of one of the complainants, whose account she found unreliable. That left Stronach with five charges related to three complainants before he was convicted on two of the counts.

He is set to be sentenced on the indecent assault conviction in September.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 18, 2026.