Former Canadian fashion mogul Peter Nygard, who was found guilty last November of four counts of sexual assault after being accused of attacking five women in his downtown Toronto office, has been sentenced to 11 years in prison.
With credit for time served, Nygard, 83, will serve just under seven years in prison.
In his sentencing, Toronto Superior Court Justice Robert Goldstein described Nygard as a “sexual predator” and a “Canadian story gone very wrong” who used his wealth and power to commit four sexual assaults.
Crown attorneys who prosecuted Nygard had been seeking a 15-year sentence in a federal prison.
Nygard’s lawyer had sought a sentence of six years, but that based on his age, declining health and credit for time already served, he would actually serve just under two years. Such a sentence would have allowed Nygard to serve his time in a provincial jail.
During his six-week trial, court heard graphic and disturbing testimony from all five complainants, four of whom said they were in their 20s when they say they were assaulted. One complainant said she was 16 when she alleged the attack by Nygard occurred.
The women testified that from a period of the late 1980s to around 2005, each ended up in Nygard’s private bedroom suite in his downtown Toronto building, where they say he attacked, overpowered and sexually assaulted them.
Nygard was acquitted of a fifth count of sexual assault as well as a charge of forcible confinement.
He has been in custody since 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.
He still faces sexual assault charges in Manitoba and Quebec. None of the criminal charges against Nygard in Quebec, Manitoba or the U.S. have been tested in court, and he has denied all allegations against him.
More to come.