Former Afghanistan hostage Joshua Boyle to appear in Ottawa court today

Former Afghanistan hostage Joshua Boyle is to appear in an Ottawa court today for a bail hearing. (Pixabay photo)

OTTAWA — Former Afghanistan hostage Joshua Boyle is to appear in an Ottawa court today for a bail hearing.

Boyle was arrested by Ottawa police late last month and made his first court appearance on New Year’s Day facing 15 charges, including eight counts of assault, two of sexual assault, two of unlawful confinement and one count of causing someone to take a noxious thing.

The charges against the 34-year-old relate to two alleged victims, but a court order prohibits the publication of any details that might identify them or any witnesses.

None of the charges — for offences alleged to have occurred between Oct. 14 and Dec. 30 after Boyle returned to Canada from his Afghan captivity —have been proven in court.

Boyle and his American wife, Caitlan Coleman, were taken hostage in 2012 by a Taliban-linked group while on a backpacking trip in Afghanistan.

The couple, and the three children they had during their five years in captivity, were finally freed by Pakistani forces last October.