Former fashion mogul Peter Nygard has been sentenced to 11 years in prison for sexual assault convictions in Toronto from the ’80s to mid-2000s.
The sentence was handed down on Monday by Justice Robert Goldstein, nearly 10 months after Nygard was convicted in November 2023 of four counts of sexual assault but acquitted of a fifth count as well as one count of forcible confinement.
He will also have a 10-year weapons prohibition, a DBA order and he will be on the sex offender registry for 20 years.
Nygard has 6.7 years left to serve on his sentence after pre-sentence custody. Justice Goldstein said Nygard will be eligible for day parole in 21 months and full parole in 27 months from now.
Nygard was a fashion tycoon and once helmed a successful women’s fashion company. He was accused of sexually assaulting multiple women at his Toronto headquarters from the 1980s to the mid-2000s.
The 83-year-old was wheeled into the courtroom in a wheelchair with a black hoodie pulled up over his head. He has a long beard and a paper visor under his hoodie to shield his eyes from the light.
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“Mr. Nygard is a sexual predator,” Justice Goldstein said during the sentencing.
Goldstein spoke to how some of the women testified that they told family or friends about the sexual assaults but didn’t go to police because they were advised it would be “her word against his” and they would not be believed. “He was a rich and powerful man,” Justice Goldstein said.
Due to a publication ban, the identities of the complainants are protected and cannot be revealed.
Five women had testified that they were invited to Nygard’s headquarters at 1 Niagara St. in Toronto under pretexts ranging from tours to job interviews, with all encounters ending in a top-floor private bedroom suite where four of them were sexually assaulted.
Multiple complainants told the jury similar stories of meeting Nygard on a plane, at an airport tarmac or at a nightclub and then receiving invitations to come to the headquarters. All five women said their meetings or interactions with Nygard ended with sexual activity that they did not consent to.
One of the complainants testified that Nygard wouldn’t let her leave his private suite for some time, which led to the forcible confinement charge. Others also testified about feeling trapped in the suite, describing doors that had to be opened with a keypad code or the push of a button near the bed.
Nygard’s latest lawyer was seeking a six-year sentence minus pre-sentence credit, citing his age and health issues, while prosecutors had asked for a sentence of 15 years.
“While he has deteriorated in custody, I do not agree that his deterioration is because of harsh conditions in custody, ” Justice Goldstein said, adding he is skeptical of Nygard’s self-reporting. “While he has health problems, he is also prone to hyperbole and exaggeration.”
Nygard 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.
The federal justice minister at the time had said Nygard would be extradited to the U.S. after the cases against him in Canada were resolved.
— With files from The Canadian Press
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