Canadian fashion mogul Nygard receives 11-year sentence for sexual assaults

OTTAWA – Peter Nygard, the founder of one of Canada’s largest clothing brands, was sentenced on Sept 9 to 11 years in prison for four counts of sexual assault of women and a girl in Toronto.

He faces release in about six and a half years with credit for time spent in pre-trial custody, or sooner if he is granted parole.

Nygard, 83, is “a Canadian success story gone very wrong,” Ontario Superior Court Justice Robert Goldstein said in handing down the sentence.

He called him “a sexual predator,” adding that “Mr Nygard used his wealth, power and profile to prey on his victims.”

Wearing a dark hoodie and a visor to shield his eyes in court, Nygard did not appear to react to the ruling.

He was convicted in November 2023 of using his status as the head of one of Canada’s largest womenswear makers to sexually assault three women and a 16-year-old girl between 1988 and 2005.

His trial heard he had invited them to his opulent Canadian offices on the pretense of lucrative modeling or other opportunities, only to find themselves trapped in a top floor bedroom suite with a hot tub where he preyed on them.

The case marked a spectacular fall for a man who once hawked blouses and slacks at major department stores and his own outlets, and threw lavish parties at his homes in the Bahamas – a Mayan-inspired playground with fake volcanoes – and Los Angeles.

Prosecutors had sought to have Nygard incarcerated for at least 15 years while the defense, citing his advanced age and failing health, urged releasing him within two years.

The judge noted in his sentencing decision a high level of “violence, degradation and (the) duration of these sexual assaults, (as well as) the manipulations used to get the victims into (his) private apartment.”

Nygard also did not moderate his behavior over the years, the judge noted. AFP