Ex-hostage Boyle charged with sex assault, confinement

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) - Canadian Joshua Boyle, his American wife and their children endured a long captivity in Afghanistan before being rescued last fall and returned to Canada. Now he's facing 15 charges including sexual assault, forcible confinement and administering a noxious drug.

Boyle, his wife and three children were freed in October in Pakistan, five years after the couple was abducted by a Taliban-linked militant group while on a backpacking trip in neighboring Afghanistan. The children were born in captivity.

The purported acts allegedly occurred between Oct. 14 and Dec. 30 after the family returned to Canada. A publication ban bars reporting any information that could identify the alleged victims.

A hearing in the case is scheduled for Wednesday, but police have declined to comment on Boyle, who is in custody.