Freed hostage Boyle faces 15 criminal charges
Sexual assault, confinement among charges
Joshua Boyle, rescued along with his family in October after five years in captivity in Afghanistan, is now in an Ottawa jail on charges of sexual assault, forcible confinement and administering a noxious drug.
Boyle, 34, spent New Year’s Day in jail after Ottawa police arrested him for a series of alleged crimes dating back to soon after his release from captivity in October.
Boyle was abducted by a Taliban-linked group while on what he described as a backpacking trip. His children were born and raised in confinement until their rescue by Pakistani commandos.
Boyle, the son of an Ottawa tax court judge, had previously been in the public spotlight due to his brief marriage to Omar Khadr’s older sister.
He is also charged with misleading police on Dec. 30 after reporting that someone was suicidal and missing.
Police now allege that Boyle concocted the story to “divert suspicion from himself.”
In all, Boyle is facing 15 criminal charges, ranging from assault, to sexual assault, to forcible confinement and administering a noxious drug (Trazodone).
A publication ban bars any information that could identify the alleged victims or witnesses in the case.
“This is a completely new experience for Mr. Boyle, as he has never been in trouble before,” said his lawyer, Eric Granger.
“He is presumed innocent of all of the charges. At this early stage, we have not received any of the evidence in this case, but we are eager to receive any evidence there is and look forward to defending Mr. Boyle against these charges in court.”
“He is eager for the full story to be presented at the appropriate time in court.”
Granger said his client was “coping.”
“He’s as OK as anyone is who is suddenly and unexpectedly facing charges for the first time,” he said.
None of the charges has been proven in court.
Boyle was held in jail after a New Year’s Day court hearing.
When Boyle and his family were released after five years of captivity, American intelligence publicly said they long suspected Boyle entered Afghanistan with the desire to hook up with “Taliban-affiliated militants.”
Despite the length of their captivity, no ransom was ever demanded.
When asked by ABC News following his rescue why he was in Afghanistan, Boyle refused to answer.
Boyle did say in a public statement at the time that the Haqqani network in Afghanistan killed his infant daughter and raped his wife during the years they were held in captivity.
“The stupidity and evil of the Haqqani network’s kidnapping of a pilgrim and his heavily pregnant wife engaged in helping ordinary villagers in Taliban-controlled regions of Afghanistan was eclipsed only by the stupidity and evil of authorizing the murder of my infant daughter,” he said.
In an interview with ABC News, Boyle’s wife, Caitlan Coleman, who is from Stewartstown, Penn., recalled that guards dragged her husband from their cell, and one of them threw her on the ground, shouting, “I will kill you, I will kill you” before assaulting her.
She also said their captors beat their eldest son with a stick.
The Taliban denied Boyle’s accusations.
In another interview, Boyle said his earlier relationship with Zaynab Khadr taught him not to judge a book by its cover.
“Are there any of us honestly able to say that we’ve never uttered any phrases which, if they ran beside our name in the paper every month for five years, would paint an unflattering mental image in the public’s perception?” he asked.
“Let he without sin cast the first stone.”
The couple and their children had gone to Boyle’s parents’ home in Smiths Falls, Ont., after being rescued.
Photographs from a Twitter account called “The Boyle Family” show pictures of the Boyles meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in December.