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Article Information Author, Nadine Yousif Role, BBC News, Toronto Courtroom July 24, 2024
Updated July 25, 2024
A woman who was raped by former fashion mogul Peter Nygard decades ago has told a Canadian court that she has been traumatized by the incident for years.
“It’s heartbreaking to think that this has turned my life upside down,” said the woman who was assaulted by Nygard in 1989 when she was in her 20s.
Nygard, who once headed a global apparel company, was due to be sentenced on Thursday on charges of sexually assaulting four women, but the case has been postponed until Aug. 2.
The 83-year-old denied the charges but was found guilty by a Toronto jury in November last year.
Nygard appeared in a Toronto courtroom for the start of his sentencing hearing on Wednesday wearing a black sweatshirt with the hood up and a black down jacket over it.
He was wearing a face mask and what appeared to be a visor, obscuring much of his face.
The two-day trial, originally scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday, has been postponed and delayed multiple times after two of the lawyers resigned over ethics concerns.
It was postponed again Thursday because of a family emergency involving a member of the prosecution team.
Superior Court Judge Robert Goldstein said he wanted to sentence Nygard “as soon as possible” and postponed the case until next week.
Nygard listened in silence in court Wednesday as victim impact statements were read out loud, including from three accusers who said the assaults left them suffering from severe depression and anxiety and in some cases ruined their careers.
“Mr. Nygard’s actions have had a devastating impact on my life,” one woman said.
“I was scared of being seen, so I didn’t trust men and never had a long-term relationship in my life,” she said.
“Now, as a 63-year-old woman, I am deeply saddened by the lack of love in my life.”
The verdict does not end Nygard’s legal battle, as he faces sexual assault and human trafficking charges in Montreal, Winnipeg and the United States.
He has denied any wrongdoing and the other charges have not yet been tried in court.
Nygard is accused of using his influence and wealth to systematically assault and traffic women in both the United States and Canada over a period of decades during his time as head of Nygard International, a global clothing design and manufacturing company.
During a six-week criminal trial in Toronto last autumn, prosecutors alleged that Nygard, once estimated to be worth at least $700 million (£542 million), used his “position” to assault five women in a series of incidents spanning from the late 1980s to 2005.
Most of the women recounted similar stories: Mr. Nygard lured them with promises of jobs and professional support in the fashion industry, then gave them individual tours of his Toronto offices and, finally, to their private bedroom suites.
One prosecutor described the room as having “a huge bed, iron bars and a door, the door had no handle and an automatic lock that was operated by Peter Nygard.”
The court heard Nygard then raped or sexually assaulted the women, aged between 16 and 28, in their bedrooms.
On Wednesday, prosecutor Neville Golwala asked Toronto Superior Court Justice Robert Goldstein to sentence Nygard to 15 years in prison, saying he would take into account Nygard’s crimes and the time he has served so far.
“It took decades for these women to get justice and for their experiences to be recognised,” he added.
His lawyer, Jeri Wiebe, had sought a lighter sentence of six years in prison, citing Nygard’s age and declining health.
The court heard that chronic pain limits his ability to move around and he suffers from type 2 diabetes and glaucoma which requires surgery.
Wiebe argued that a longer sentence would shorten his life expectancy and “take away any hope of release or rehabilitation.”
She also asked that the time he has already served be taken into consideration.
Nygard has been in custody since his arrest in late 2020. Court heard he is being held in a medical unit at the Toronto Detention Centre, where he has privileges including access to his own mobile phone and email through an assistant.
At his trial in Toronto last year, his lawyers argued that his accusers, who are also part of a class-action lawsuit filed in the United States on behalf of his alleged victims, were motivated by financial gain.
During his trial, Nygard maintained he had no recollection of four of the five women involved and that he would never “behave in that way.”
The jury found the defendant guilty of four counts and not guilty of a fifth count of sexual assault and one count of forcible confinement.
Image source: Anadolu via Getty Images
Nygard now faces a new sexual assault case in Montreal, where he is accused of assaulting and forcibly confining a woman more than 20 years ago.
A preliminary investigation into the incident is expected to begin in January 2025.
Nygard also faces charges in Winnipeg for allegedly engaging in criminal conduct in 1993 involving a woman who was 20 years old at the time.
In that case, the defendant is accused of luring the woman into a modelling job, then confining her and raping her – charges he denies.
Once his criminal trial in Canada is over, he is due to be extradited to the United States, where US authorities allege he was involved in a “pattern of criminal activity spanning decades” involving at least 12 victims around the world.
The U.S. Department of Justice indicted him on sex trafficking and extortion charges, accusing him of targeting “women and underage girls who came from economically disadvantaged backgrounds or had histories of abuse.”
A separate class action lawsuit filed in the United States by 57 women has been put on hold pending criminal proceedings.
Nygard stepped down as chairman in 2020, shortly before the company filed for bankruptcy after U.S. authorities raided its New York headquarters.
