Canadian held hostage by Taliban-linked group charged with confinement

Joshua Boyle, the Canadian man who was freed in October after being held hostage in Afghanistan and Pakistan with his wife and children for five years, was arrested in Ottawa and charged with a number of offences, including assault and sexual assault.

The offences all took place after his return to Canada and before December 30, according to the Toronto Star. Boyle, 34, is in police custody. He is scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday.

Boyle is facing 15 charges, including eight counts of assault, two counts of sexual assault, and two counts of unlawful confinement, as well as one count each of uttering death threats, causing someone to “take a noxious thing, namely Trazodone,” and misleading the police.

'Strain and trauma'

Boyle, his wife Caitlan Coleman, and their three children — all born in captivity — were held by the Taliban-linked Haqqani network before being rescued by Pakistani forces and returning to Canada.

“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,” Coleman said in a statement to the Star.

“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.”

Boyle was arrested on Monday, his brother Dan told the Star, adding that his family would like to see him get mental health treatment.

The couple say they were backpacking when they were kidnapped in Afghanistan, and that they were quickly moved to Pakistan. Coleman told the Star in an interview that she was raped and that when Boyle refused to join the Haqqani network, the kidnappers retaliated by terminating her pregnancy.