A court-ordered publication ban was put in place after the accused was taken into custody by members of the Renfrew Detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) and appeared before the Ontario Court of Justice. The names of the victims and the location of the crime are not reported to protect their identity.

Pembroke – A German businessman who visited Renfrew County last October and committed a sexual assault against a minor, appeared in the Ontario Court of Justice last week and pled guilty to one count of Sexual Assault via a Zoom video link.

At the time of his arrest, Hermann Benz spent a total of five days in custody and with his guilty plea, he will not serve any more time in a Canadian jail but will enjoy his freedom in his native Germany. The only true cost to him was providing $15,000 in compensation for the victims.

The incident occurred in October 2023 when a private function was underway to celebrate a recent marriage. According to testimony provided to both the OPP at the time of the complaint, and during his trial, it was stated Mr. Benz, who was visiting the area while on a business trip for a German firm, attended the celebration even though he was not invited.

On the evening in question, Constables Marc Bennett, James Hogan and Matt McLaren were dispatched to investigate an alleged sexual assault which had taken place moments earlier at a private function. The information provided to police was that a male had just sexually assaulted a minor and was currently being restrained.
When the three officers arrived at the scene, they were met by multiple parties. As a result of speaking with the involved parties, the officers were able to determine the venue was a private function with several guests in attendance.

They were told Mr. Benz was mingling around and proceeded to approach a female and grabbed her and made advances on her and those inappropriate advances were invasive enough to warrant him being taken into custody and charged with three counts of sexual assault.

He was booked at the Renfrew OPP Detachment and held in custody until his bail hearing. At the time, the Crown Attorney consented to Mr. Benz’s release because his plan was to remain in Renfrew County with his surety.

However, a few weeks following his release into the care of a surety, Mr. Benz ended up bringing a bail review so he could go back to Germany. The Crown Attorney contested this request. At the time of his hearing that was held just before Christmas, 2023, Justice James of the Superior Court of Justice varied his bail to allow him to go back to Germany with a stipulation he return his passport to the OPP within a certain timeframe.

The hearing was held in the Ontario Court of Justice in Pembroke on July 3 with Justice Jeffery Richardson presiding. Both the prosecution, represented by Crown Attorney James Bocking and Mr. Benz’ defence counsel, Pembroke lawyer Mark Huckabone, presented a Joint Submission in order for Mr. Benz to agree to plead guilty to one count of sexual assault.

Prior to presenting the submission, Justice Richardson called on the Clerk to read out the charge for Mr. Benz.

The Clerk read out the lone charge of sexual assault and asked Mr. Benz if he was entering a plea of guilty or not guilty.

“Guilty,” Mr. Benz replied.

Joint Submission Only Option

Mr. Bocking presented the rationale for their Joint Submission and he emphasized the agreement appears to be lax and favour the accused. However, both lawyers agreed it was in the best interests of the complainants to resolve the matter quickly in order to spare the victims any further contact with the man and move forward without being re-victimized with future court appearances if no plea was entered.

“Your Honour, it is obvious that this joint position should give the court pause,” Mr. Bocking stated before Justice Richardson. “The courts are not rubber stamps for joint positions. It is the Crown’s submission that, after careful consideration, this joint position is not contrary to the public interest for a number of reasons.”

Mr. Bocking said his office was vehemently opposed to any plan involving Mr. Benz to leave Canada because all future proceedings would be delayed. He said the case would become entangled in international treaties and disagreements over jurisdiction. He said if the accused was allowed to leave Canada, it would be a bureaucratic nightmare to compel him to return to Canada, and that was unlikely.

“He is in Germany,” Mr. Bocking said. “The proverbial horse is out of the barn.”

Mr. Bocking said with Mr. Benz appearing by video and entering a guilty plea, and if it was accepted, he is bound by conditions should he try and return to Canada. He said his conviction means he will never be able to return to Canada because he will be flagged by the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) and there was a public benefit for that result.

“The alternative or flipside of the situation that the Crown finds itself is that one cannot just go out and get someone in Germany. There are ministerial approvals that are required. This process can take – in my experience – a very, very, long time. And that is just the approval for a request for an arrest warrant.

“If and when Mr. Benz is located, he is then entitled to protections afforded him under German law; it is no rubber stamp that he gets put on a plane and is sent here,” Mr. Bocking added. “If Mr. Benz returns here, he is entitled to a bail hearing as is his right under the Charter. He requires counsel, and trial estimates and a trial date, etc.”

Mr. Bocking said it could be pushed to 2029 if the Joint Submission was not accepted.

“It is a difficult position for the Crown to find itself in,” he said. “That is the reality.”

Mr. Bocking said there was $15,000 in bail money that was imposed by Justice James. Mr. Huckabone said he had instructions from his client to give this money to the affected parties for their counselling fees as a result of this incident for restitution purposes.

Mr. Bocking made no secret of his disappointment that the only way to allow the victims the freedom to move on with their lives was to essentially grant Mr. Benz his freedom.

“Instead of the file being stored away and flagged as a warrant, we have a guilty plea and a result,” Mr. Bocking said. “One day in 2028, one of the complainants isn’t going to receive a phone call from a police officer asking her to get ready for a trial. It isn’t ideal. But ideal isn’t the standard and does not bring the appearance of justice into disrepute.”

You Should Be Ashamed of Yourself

Although Justice Richardson remained composed while passing sentence, his body language told another story, especially when he directed his questions to Mr. Benz over the Zoom virtual network.

“Mr. Benz, before I sentence you, is there anything you wish to tell me,” he asked him.

“No,” Mr. Benz replied.

Justice Richardson appeared to be taken by surprise with the very quick one word reply.

“Mr. Benz, did I hear no?” Justice Richardson asked.

Mr. Huckabone immediately stepped in and said, “You did Your Honour.”

After a few tense moments in the courtroom, Justice Richardson again directed his comments to Mr. Benz.

“Mr. Benz, you should be ashamed of yourself,” he said. “You are 61 years old and if you were in Ontario, I wouldn’t have any hesitation of putting you in jail. I understand you were drinking and that does not excuse this conduct. I would have thought, when you were asked if you had anything to say, the first words that would have come across your lips is, ‘I’m sorry.’

“I reluctantly am going to go along with the joint submission. The only reason I am going along with the joint submission is because Mr. Benz is not currently within my grasp. I am not sure that given the time it would take to bring him within my grasp…that we should leave these young people without justice. I agree with what the Crown has said.”

He said the resolution will allow the women to move along and get some counselling and not have to worry that sometime between now and five years from now they will get a visit from the police to inform them the trial will resume.

“They won’t have to deal with the stress of testifying in court and they won’t have to worry about whether a judge believes them and I agree with the Crown it is not worth it. If Mr. Benz was going to appear in Canada, I would issue a warrant for his immediate arrest. The reality is he is in Germany and not here.”

Justice Richardson imposed a sentence of five days (time served with no credit); 18 months’ probation; he placed a non-communication order with the complainants; never to return to Renfrew County unless he is with counsel and he ordered all of the bail money to be dispersed to the three victims.