Former Canadian fashion mogul Peter Nygard was sentenced on Monday September 9 by a Toronto court to 11 years in prison for sexually assaulting four women.
The judge referred to the 83-year-old as a “sexual predator” during the hearing.
Justice Robert Goldstein said that Nygard didn’t care about his victims, all of whom were attacked at the offices of his company.
According to the judge, one of several irritating variables for the situation was the fact that, one of the casualties was only 16 years of age at the time.
Nygard was found guilty of four counts of sexual assault in November but acquitted of a fifth count as well as one count of forcible confinement. He faces separate sexual assault and sex trafficking charges in Montreal, Winnipeg and the United States.
Nygard has denied all charges against him. Nygard, who once led a women’s fashion empire, showed up at the town hall in a wheelchair, but didn’t address the court when offered the chance.
His time behind bars will come to a little less than seven years after accounting for time served. He will be eligible to apply for parole in two years.
The charges against Nygard originated from claims tracing all the way back to the 1980s until the mid-2000s.
During his trial, five women, whose characters are protected by a publication ban, affirmed they were invited to Nygard’s Toronto business headoffice under guises going from tours to new employee screenings.
Every one of the experiences finished in a top room suite where four of the women were sexually attacked.
Similar accounts of meeting Nygard on a plane, in a nightclub, or on the tarmac of an airport were relayed by a number of women to the jury, who were then invited to visit his headquarters. Each of the five women said their meetings with Nygard ended up with sexual advances that they didn’t agree to.
Nygard’s lawyer had argued for a six-year sentence, citing her client’s age and poor health, while the Crown sought a sentence of 15 years.
The judge dismissed the argument for a shorter sentence, saying Nygard has been receiving special treatment in custody due to his various health issues and that his advanced age is not reason enough to limit the sentence.
Goldstein also revealed that Nygard had been exaggerating his health issues in his entries to the court.
Meanwhile, Nygard’s lawyer recently argued in court that an extended sentence would be “pulverizing” for her client, who has Type 2 diabetes and disintegrating vision, among other medical problems.
Nygard founded a fashion company in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in 1967 that ultimately became Nygard International. His company produced women’s clothing under several brand names and had corporate facilities in Canada and the U.S. His stores throughout Winnipeg were once draped with his photos.
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He stepped down as director of the organization after the FBI and police raided his offices in New York City in February 2020. The organization has since filed for bankruptcy and gone into financial constraints.
He was first arrested in Winnipeg in 2020 under the Extradition Act after he was charged with nine counts in New York, including sex trafficking and racketeering charges.
In May, Manitoba’s highest court dismissed Nygard’s application for a judicial review of his extradition order, finding there was no reason to interfere with the order issued by then-justice minister David Lametti.
