Outlander star charged with raping woman
She was unable to consent, says Crown
AN ACTOR is to stand trial charged with raping a woman in Scotland.
Gregory Odjig, 45, is said to have carried out the sex attack at the Premier Suites Plus serviced apartments in Glasgow’s Bath Street in May 2021.
Prosecutors claim the woman was intoxicated and asleep or unconscious, resulting in her being unable to consent.
Odjig – who appeared in three episodes of hit television series Outlander as tribesman character Satehoronies – faces a separate assault charge of punching the woman in the head to her injury.
The case called for a hearing at the High Court in Glasgow yesterday. Odjig’s KC Ronnie Renucci said: ‘He pleads not guilty in respect of the charges on the indictment.’
He said Odjig, who was not at the hearing, currently lives in Canada. The court heard a trial date in June 2024 had been identified.
Mr Renucci said: ‘I ask for it to be fixed for that date.’
Prosecutor Angela Gray said that given the time between now and the trial, consideration will be given to arrange for the alleged victim’s testimony to be recorded on camera and played to jurors.
Lord Matthews went on to state: ‘I will appoint the trial for June 2024, with it expected to last five days.’
A further hearing will take place later this year.
Odjig, whose address on court papers was listed as care of a Glasgow law firm, remains on bail. In addition to his Outlander role, his acting credits include television science fiction series Warehouse 13 and the Fargo series, as well as film and stage roles.
Outlander – filmed at studios in Cumbernauld, near Glasgow, and at locations across Scotland – is based on novels by US writer Diana Gabaldon.
The story sees a Second World War nurse, played by Irish actress Caitriona Balfe, tumbling through time into the world of the Jacobite uprisings, where she meets Highland warrior Jamie Fraser, played by Scots heartthrob Sam Heughan.
In recognition of the ‘Outlander Effect’ in boosting visitor numbers to locations featured, in 2019 Gabaldon was given an International Contribution to Scottish Tourism award by government agency VisitScotland.
‘Currently lives in Canada’