Patrick Brown says he can disprove allegations of sexual misconduct that led to his abrupt resignation as leader of Ontario’s Progressive Conservative party late last month.
Brown said in a Facebook post Sunday that he has been investigating the allegations reported by CTV News last month. He said specific details of the accusations from two unnamed women, which date back to when he was a federal MP, contain discrepancies that prove their accounts are false.
Brown also alleged both of the accusers know CTV reporters socially, and that the broadcaster left out a contradicting account from a witness to one of the alleged incidents. “CTV is aware of the claims made in Patrick Brown’s Facebook post (Sunday) and those reportedly made in his interview with the Toronto Sun. CTV News stands by its story,” Matthew Garrow, communications director for the broadcaster, said in a statement. Brown, whose resignation came months before a spring election, said he will clear his name.
“The #metoo movement is important. I support it. I embrace it. My drive to public service includes creating a safer and more respectful world for women. The #metoo movement is too important to allow outrageous allegations like these to derail it,” he wrote.
The allegations reported by CTV have not been verified by The Canadian Press.
The broadcaster reported on Jan. 24 that one of the women, who is now 29, said she was still in high school when Brown allegedly asked her to perform oral sex on him.
CTV reported the alleged incident happened in Brown’s bedroom with the door closed, but Brown said in his Facebook post that at the time of the alleged incident, he lived in an open concept apartment and the bedroom didn’t have a door.
CTV also reported the second accuser was a university student working in Brown’s constituency office when he allegedly sexually assaulted her at his home after an event she helped organize. Brown alleged in his post that the accuser actually tried to kiss him that night, while the woman he was seeing romantically was in another room.
“I stopped her immediately and offered to drive her home, which I did,” he wrote. “There are at least three witnesses, one of whom even spoke to CTV, that refute the details of her allegations.”
He said CTV left the witness’s account out of their report.