A 36-year-old U.S. Army veteran was convicted on July 20 of fatally beating a 68-year-old neighbor during an attempted rape in Garden Grove nearly six years ago. Michael Aon Varela was convicted of murder with a special circumstance allegation of murder during an attempted rape. It was Mr. Varela’s second trial. A previous jury deadlocked…

SAN DIEGO—A man accused of sexually assaulting a 78-year-old woman at a Mira Mesa church was ordered May 1 to stand trial on charges of assault with intent to commit rape and dissuading a witness. Hugo Jonathan Espinoza-Martinez, 27, is accused of assaulting the woman on Nov. 25, 2022, at Summit Point Church on Rickert…

There is not enough evidence to open a formal church investigation into sexual assault allegations against Quebec Cardinal Marc Ouellet, Pope Francis said Thursday. The pontiff issued his statement through Matteo Bruni, director of the Holy See press office. Allegations of sexual assault against Ouellet are part of a class-action lawsuit formally filed this week…

Kevin Vuong, a Toronto member of Parliament and naval reservist, has been fined $500 for failing to tell the Royal Canadian Navy about a 2019 sexual assault charge. Naval Reserve spokesman Lt. Robert Moore says Vuong at a summary trial in Montreal admitted to the charge of failing to report an arrest. A summary trial…

A crime victims advocacy group expressed concern on Tuesday after a Quebec man was granted a conditional discharge in a sexual assault case, in part because the judge felt a conviction could damage the man’s career. Marie-Christine Villeneuve of Crime Victims Assistance Centres says she worries the light sentence may be discouraging to victims and…

Former Parti Québécois leader André Boisclair’s criminal cases on allegations of sexual assault are due back in court today. Boisclair, 56, has pleaded not guilty to charges in separate cases involving two alleged victims whose identities are covered by a publication ban. In one case, Boisclair is charged with sexual assault with the participation of…

Cross-examination is expected to continue today for a woman who alleges she was sexually assaulted by Canadian musician Jacob Hoggard when she was a teenager. Hoggard has pleaded not guilty to two counts of sexual assault causing bodily harm and one of sexual interference, a charge that relates to the sexual touching of someone under…

Jury selection has begun this morning at the sex assault trial of Canadian musician Jacob Hoggard. Hoggard, the frontman for the rock band Hedley, was charged in 2018 with sexual assault causing bodily harm and sexual interference in connection with alleged incidents involving a woman and a teenager. He pleaded not guilty to the charges…

Canadian fashion mogul Peter Nygard’s sexual assault and forcible confinement case in Quebec will return to a Montreal courtroom at the end of May. Nygard’s presence was not required today as his case was heard briefly before a judge in Montreal. Lawyers agreed to push the case to May 25 to give his legal team…

OTTAWA—Maj.-Gen. Dany Fortin’s sexual assault case will go to trial in September. Two days were set aside for the trial during a brief, virtual courtroom hearing this morning, five months after the senior military officer once tasked with overseeing Canada’s COVID-19 vaccination drive was charged. The Sept. 19-20 trial will be held in a Gatineau…