A Canadian man who was held captive by a faction of the Afghan Taliban for five years has been arrested on 15 charges including sexual assault, illegal confinement and issuing death threats, according to reports on Tuesday. Joshua Boyle was freed last October along with his American wife Caitlan Coleman and their three children born in captivity.

The identity of the alleged victim was being withheld by a court, according to Boyle's lawyer Eric Granger. Granger added his client was "presumed innocent" and had never been in any form of legal trouble before. "We look forward to receiving the evidence and defending him against these charges," he said, adding Boyle would appear before a court in Ottawa on Wednesday. According to news channel CTV, Boyle is facing eight counts of assault, two counts of sexual assault and two counts of unlawful confinement, as well as one each of misleading police to "divert suspicion from himself," uttering a death threat, and administering a noxious substance, Trazodone.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2018