Canadian fashion designer Peter Nygard appears via video feed during his bail hearing in connection with multiple sexual assault charges in a courtroom in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in this courtroom sketch Jan 6, 2022. Filepic/Reuters
Former Canadian fashion mogul Peter Nygard was sentenced to 11 years in prison on Monday after being convicted of four counts of sexual assault in attacks on women in his Toronto office building that in some cases date back for decades.
The 11-year sentence is reduced to take into account time he has already spent behind bars. Nygard has about 6.7 years left to serve and will be eligible for full parole after one-third of that.
Nygard, 83, was found guilty by a Toronto jury on four counts of sexual assault last November. He was acquitted of a fifth count of sexual assault and one count of forcible confinement.
During the six-week trial, the Ontario Superior Court heard testimony from five complainants who said during a period between the late 1980s to around 2005 Nygard had attacked them in a private bedroom suite on the top floor of the building.
Canadian police arrested Nygard in late 2020 at the request of the United States, where he was accused of using his businesses to lure women and girls to sexually gratify himself and his associates.
Toronto police laid their own charges against him about a year later. Nygard also faces charges of sexual assault and forcible confinement in Manitoba and Quebec.
He is fighting extradition to the US where he faces federal charges in New York for nine offences including conspiracy to commit racketeering, transportation of a minor for purpose of prostitution, and sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion.
Born in Finland, Nygard grew up in the Canadian province of Manitoba, eventually running his namesake clothing company and becoming one of the wealthiest people in the country.
"Peter Nygard is a sexual predator. He is also a Canadian success story gone very wrong," Justice Robert Goldstein said Monday.
"He used his wealth and his power to commit four sexual assaults." – Reuters
