New accusations add to campaign headaches
Assault complaint from 1973 lodged against Fantino; fellow Tory denies booze allegation
An assault complaint stretching back decades and an accusation of alcohol being bought for underage girls at a St. Catharines bar are creating headaches for the Conservative election campaign.
A lawyer for former Toronto police chief Julian Fantino said the Conservative candidate will “vigorously” defend himself against an assault complaint dating back to 1973.
Mark Sandler calls the allegations against the Tory incumbent for Vaughan-Woodbridge “completely spurious.”
Sandler confirmed that a Toronto construction worker, John Bonnici, has pressed two private assault charges against Fantino that date back to when he was a police officer.
He says the surfacing of the complaint 42 years after the alleged incident and during an election campaign raises “obvious questions” about Bonnici’s motivation.
Bonnici told the Toronto Sun he was arrested in a raid in1973 that was overseen by Fantino, and was allegedly roughed up by officers. He also alleges an officer poured ketchup down his buttocks and further alleges Fantino spread the condiment by stroking the outside of his pants with a police baton.
None of Bonnici’s allegations has been proven in court.
Police generally lay criminal charges but anyone who has reasonable grounds to believe someone has committed an offence can go to a Justice of the Peace or provincial court judge, who determine if a summons or warrant should be issued to compel an accused person to come to court to answer the charge.
Meanwhile, in St. Catharines, Ont., longtime Conservative Rick Dykstra is denying a report that suggests he knowingly bought hundreds of dollars of alcohol for underage girls at a nightclub last month.
The denial came after Buzzfeed published photographs that reportedly to show Dykstra posing with teenaged girls at the Mansion House nightclub on Sept. 2 in his riding of St. Catharines, where he’s seeking reelection. He is seen smiling in a photo alongside several people who are holding beverages in their hands at the club, a popular spot for university students.
His campaign denied he knowingly bought underage girls any alcohol, adding he assumed anyone at the nightclub was of legal drinking age.
“Mr. Dykstra was in a licensed establishment, where patrons are required to be19 or older,” Karen Moncur, Dykstra’s campaign spokeswoman, said in an email.
“Given Ontario’s rigorous ID requirements, Mr. Dykstra had no reason to believe anyone in the establishment was underage. Mr. Dykstra did not purchase drinks for any of the individuals in question, nor did he see them consume any alcohol from the bottles he purchased.”
Moncur said Dykstra was with members of his campaign team and his family “on the night in question.”
Buzzfeed reported that two of the girls tweeted about Dykstra’s alleged generosity, and one of them — who told the website she was 16 at the time — reportedly alleged she was later offered a bribe in the form of VIP service at the club by a supporter of Dykstra to deny it had happened.
An emailed statement from Dykstra did not speak to the allegation of a bribe.
On Sept. 3, an18-year-old girl tweeted “thanks for the bottle service last night @RickDykstra,” Buzzfeed reported. She also said in another tweet that at least six bottles of Ciroc vodka — at $170 each — were purchased for the girls.
Another girl, 16 at the time but now 17, tweeted: “Lol Rick Dykstra just paid for our bottle service,” according to Buzzfeed.
The tweets have since been deleted, but were obtained by the website.
Buzzfeed reported that an associate and supporter of the Conservative incumbent then reached out to the 16-year-old girl and offered her indefinite VIP service at Mansion House — once she was of legal drinking age — if she refrained from tweeting about the night and if she claimed Dykstra never bought her drinks.
The website says she provided a screenshot of their exchange, which it published.
The associate, reportedly a recently departed sales manager for Ciroc vodka, denied to Buzzfeed that he’d seriously offered her VIP treatment or asked her to take down any tweets. The VIP offer was made merely in jest, he said.
Conservative campaign spokesman Kory Teneycke says Dykstra remains the candidate in the riding.