Beyond The Verdict

07/08/2026

"I spent a decade defending myself while he now admits he knew the truth all along." - Jessica Baker

Former Hedley frontman Jacob Hoggard has been granted day parole. But the Parole Board’s decision includes a revelation Jessica has waited ten years for: Hoggard admitted he did not have her consent, and he knew what he had done was wrong all along. He also acknowledged the “violence of re-victimization” in forcing a trial.

Crucially, the Parole Board described Hoggard’s behaviour as having a pattern of “manipulation, predation, and sexual violence”. This is deeply significant for the other two young women who testified against him and did not receive guilty verdicts.

Jessica has released a statement reflecting on the Parole Board’s written decision, why she wasn’t at the hearing herself, and what she hopes to see at the next one.

Read Jessica’s full statement - and the Parole Board’s written decision, there.

Image of Jessica Baker is from Breaking Idol directed by Tiffany Hsiung.

"I spent a decade defending myself while he now admits he knew the truth all along." - Jessica Baker

05/27/2026

As a survivor-led initiative, Beyond the Verdict wants survivors watching this unfold to know that your feelings are valid.

Watching the Vegas Golden Knights advance to the Stanley Cup final has been heavy. We’re once again being reminded that even though public conversations move on, trauma often does not.

Read our full statement here:
https://www.beyondtheverdict.ca/news/vegas-golden-knights-stanley-cup

For years, survivors have been told that accusations "ruin lives and careers." Yet here we are once again watching elite athletes continue competing at the highest levels of professional sport, celebrated on national television and cheered in packed arenas.

03/26/2026

An Update on Bill C-246

Bill C-246 has unfortunately failed.

Survivors are asked to relive multiple acts of sexual violence in court - in detail, under oath, and under pressure.

And still, when it comes time for accountability, those harms are often treated as one.

This bill asked for a closer look at that, but it will not go further.

We would like to sincerely thank MP Rachael Thomas for her efforts, and all those who voted in favour of ensuring survivors had a chance at something better than what there currently is.

We won’t stop saying it - survivors deserve a system that recognizes the full weight of what they’ve lived through.

- Beyond the Verdict

03/10/2026

A guilty verdict is not the end of justice for survivors. Sentencing matters too.

In many sexual assault cases, prosecutors lay multiple charges because each assault is its own crime under the law. But when someone is convicted of more than one offence, those sentences are often served at the same time. The reality is that these convictions currently carry the same sentence as a single conviction.

For survivors, that can feel like parts of what happened simply disappear at sentencing.

Bill C-246 is raising an important conversation about whether each sexual offence should carry its own weight in the final sentence. This recognizes harm.

When survivors go through the courage and trauma of reporting, re-traumatizing themselves testifying, and reliving in court in a room packed full of strangers what happened, every single part of that harm should matter.

We encourage all parliamentarians to support C-246 on Wednesday March 11th. Parliament is set to debate the principle of the bill and if it passes this stage, it will move to committee where expert and survivor voices help shape the final law.

Justice does not stop at conviction. Accountability must be reflected in sentencing too.

Survivor voices belong in the conversations shaping our laws. Beyond the Verdict will continue working to ensure lived experience is always part of the conversation surrounding justice reforms.

- Beyond the Verdict

02/28/2026

We are closely following the sexual assault trial of Canadian billionaire businessman Frank Stronach, and we need to address what we are hearing in that courtroom so far.

“She must be lying” is a discredited r**e myth.

Please see our statement below.
https://www.beyondtheverdict.ca/news/stronachtrial

- Beyond The Verdict is a Canadian survivor-led advocacy group supporting sexual assault survivors by challenging misinformation in the courtroom and advocating for trauma-informed justice.

“She must be lying” is a discredited r**e myth.

02/28/2026

We are following the Frank Stronach trial closely, and we need to address something we are hearing in that courtroom.

When a complainant is told that what she was “really upset about” was not sexual assault, but that she didn’t get the love or relationship she wanted, that displays a longstanding and very outdated r**e myth.

It is the narrative that women fabricate or reinterpret sexual assault because of rejection, regret, or emotional dissatisfaction. There is no credible body of research that supports that framing. What decades of research actually shows is how trauma affects how memory can evolve without being made up, and how power imbalances shape whether and when someone comes forward.

When allegations involve individuals with a lot of wealth, status, or influence, the barriers to reporting are not minor. Reputation, livelihood, retaliation, public scrutiny all weighs heavily well before someone ever steps into a courtroom.

We are hearing a lot about memory in this trial because some of the allegations date back decades.

Bluntly, no one remembers events from 20, 30, or 40 years ago like a crystal clear video recording. That applies to complainants and accused alike. Human memory is imperfect and trauma can preserve core experiences while minor background details fade or shift over time. That is established science.

But when courts talk about credibility in historical cases, they must do so with a realistic understanding of how memory works and not with the false expectation that a perfect memory exists decades later.

Imperfect is not, on its own, proof of dishonesty.

We are not commenting on guilt or innocence. We are commenting on familiar patterns that we see every day in both high profile and non-high-profile cases.

Sexual assault trials must focus on evidence and consent and not stereotypes or outdated r**e myths about how a “real victim” should behave, feel, or when they choose report.

We must do better than repeating these myths in our courtrooms.

We are watching, and we will continue to call out systemic bias when we see it.

-Jessica, Kelly, and Kristi

https://www.beyondtheverdict.ca/news/stronachtrial

12/06/2025

J.B.’s identity was legally protected for years - but now she's lifted her publication ban to share her story of survival, resilience and of reclaiming power.

Breaking Idol is a new documentary from CBC based on Canadian True Crime’s podcast series about the first trial of former Hedley frontman Jacob Hoggard.

▶ Watch Breaking Idol on CBC Gem or Youtube. Links in bio.

12/05/2025

NEWS: Another important step toward strengthening Canada’s response to intimate partner violence and ensuring that the legal system better reflects the realities survivors face.

Beyond the Verdict welcomes this week's news that Bill C-225 has passed second reading in the House of Commons and will now move forward to the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights for study.

We also acknowledge the dedicated work of MP Frank Caputo in bringing this bill forward, and we hold Bailey’s family and friends in our thoughts as they continue to navigate unimaginable and completely preventable loss.

Too many women and gender-diverse people in Canada have been killed by their intimate partners. Each life taken is a stark reminder that our justice system has not done enough to prevent predictable, preventable violence in the home.

Bill C-225 sends a clear message that intimate partner homicide is not a “crime of passion.” It is a pattern of coercion, control, and escalating harm. For decades, survivors and families have watched as sentencing decisions failed to capture the true gravity of intimate partner violence. This bill recognizes that these killings are rarely isolated events. These are the final, fatal outcome of months or years of ongoing abuse.

This week's 325-0 vote moves us one step closer to meaningful change and to a legal system that better protects those living with violence.

We urge all Members of Parliament to continue supporting Bill C-225 as it moves to committee, and to ensure the lived experiences of survivors are centered throughout the process.

In solidarity,

Kelly Favro and J.B.
With support from Kristi Lee
Beyond The Verdict: Survivor-led advocacy project