Police Probe Radio Host in Sex Crime Case

Jian Ghomeshi claims he only engaged in 'consensual' BDSM
By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 2, 2014 2:40 PM CST
Police Probe CBC Host in Sex Crime Case
This Jan. 22, 2010 photo shows Jian Ghomeshi. Police are investigating the prominent former Canadian Broadcast Corp. radio host on sexual assault charges after three women came forward to complain.   (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Chris Young)

Former celebrity radio host Jian Ghomeshi is under investigation after three women told police that he had attacked and abused them sexually, the Toronto Star reports. Investigators are also looking into videos that Ghomeshi showed his employers at the CBC that apparently reveal his BDSM behavior in the bedroom. Sources say he showed them the videos just before the scandal broke as proof that "bruising could happen and it could still be consensual"; Ghomeshi thought the videos "were exculpatory of his conduct," the sources add. But that may have backfired: The CBC saw evidence of Ghomeshi causing "physical injury to a woman" on Oct. 23, a rep tells the CBC, which let Ghomeshi go three days later. (See a full timeline of the scandal at CTV News.)

Since then, several women have come forward saying Ghomeshi sexually assaulted them on dates, often hitting and choking them before having sex. Ghomeshi claims the sex was consensual, and no woman has said she told him to stop. But actress Lucy DeCoutere—one of the women who reported allegations to Toronto police—says he choked her so hard that she couldn't breathe and slapped her head three times. "He did not ask if I was into it," she tells the Star. "It was never a question. It was shocking to me. The men I have spent time with are loving people." Over the past few days, Ghomeshi's agent, publicist, and crisis-management firm have all dropped him, and his old bandmates at Moxy Fruvous say they are "sickened and saddened" by the allegations, the Star reports. Ghomeshi's whereabouts are currently unknown. (More sex scandal stories.)

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