Chad Bobrosky, a former successful swimmer in the NCAA who represented Canada at international meets, has been granted bail, pending appeal of a 54 month prison sentence for raping a woman in his Calgary apartment.
Bobrosky, 29, was convicted in February of sexually assaulting a woman in December 2018, and then was handed the four-and-a-half-year prison sentence in June.
He has since appealed the conviction, arguing that the trial judge made an error in refusing to allow cross-examination of prior instances of sexual activity between him and the complainant while allowing the prosecutors to cross-examine him on other matters that violated his rights against self-incrimination, according to The Calgary Herald.
Judge Gord Wong rejected the defense’s argument that the sexual contact was consensual when convicting Bobrosky in February, deeming it to be unbelievable, and said the sexual assault came while also physically harming the victim.
“He had to have known he was inflicting harm on the complainant,” Wong said at the time. “That did not deter him. I find this particularly aggravating.”
Alberta Court of Appeal Justice Barbara Lea Veldhuis released a written decision on Friday acknowledging the seriousness of the crime, but said that with no other criminal history and having complied with all previous orders, he was a low flight risk and not a threat to society.
“The risk to the public safety if the applicant is granted interim release pending the determination of his appeal is low. The Crown concedes this point,” she wrote, according to the Herald.
“He is currently in a stable, committed, long-term relationship and no longer communicates with women through social media applications like the one he used to meet the complainant.”
Bobrosky was a four-time medalist for Canada at the 2011 FINA World Junior Swimming Championships, and was an All-American during his time swimming collegiately at the University of Southern California.