Freed Taliban 'Prisoner' Facing Rape Charges
"As to myself and the children, we are healthy and holding up as well as we can.”
1.3.2018
17
A Canadian man who took his then-pregnant American wife on a "backpacking trip" through Afghanistan only to be held by a Taliban-linked group for five years is now facing assault, forcible confinement and sexual assault changes in Ottawa, Canada.
Joshua Boyle, his Pennsylvania-born wife Caitlan Coleman, and their three children arrived in Canada on October 13, 2017 after five years of being held by the Haqqani network. Five months pregnant when they were captured in October 2012, Coleman gave birth to a son and then two more children in captivity.
The growth of their family while in captivity has led many in Canada to question whether they were ever actual prisoners, but officially the Canadian and American governments treated them as such and sought their release.
The family had been freed by Pakistani military forces that were operating on intelligence from American forces in Afghanistan. Upon release the entire Boyle family was offered quick transport home aboard an American military plane, an offer Boyle rejected, allegedly fearing he would be arrested.
Instead the family flew through Britain to Canada, settling in Ottawa near Boyle's parents.
But the return home does not appear to be a happy one.
On Tuesday news broke that Boyle had been arrested on December 30th and was still in custody as he faced 15 charges including: eight counts of assault, two counts of sexual assault, two counts of unlawful confinement, uttering a death threat, and administering a noxious substance. Police also laid a charge against Boyle for misleading police - media reports indicate he reported someone as missing and suicidal in order to divert police away from himself shortly before his arrest.
According to court records, the alleged incidents occurred between October 14, 2017 - the day after the family arrived back in Canada - and December 30, 2017.
While a publication ban prevents media outlets from reporting the names of the victims to protect their identity, it would appear to be Caitlan Coleman who released a statement to the Toronto Star offering forgiveness for her husband.
In a statement to the Star, Caitlan wrote, “I can’t speak about the specific charges, but I can say that ultimately it is the strain and trauma he was forced to endure for so many years and the effects that that had on his mental state that is most culpable for this.
“Obviously, he is responsible for his own actions,” she wrote, “but it is with compassion and forgiveness that I say I hope help and healing can be found for him. As to the rest of us, myself and the children, we are healthy and holding up as well as we can.”
While many in the Canadian public have reacted to Boyle's return with skepticism, that isn't the case with Canada's left-wing political elite. Boyle and his entire family met with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in his Parliament Hill office on December 18 -- a time when, sources claim, officials would have known about the police investigation.
“No matter who was investigating him, they would have known,” Conservative Sen. Vern White told the Sun. White was chief of Ottawa Police Service from 2007 to 2012 and an assistant RCMP commissioner before that.
“There is only one system,” adds White. “If you run [Boyle] against the system, it would have said he was under investigation.”
Senator White believes that either Trudeau's security detail did not run a background check, or more likely, that Trudeau went ahead with the meeting anyway.
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