2023-11-12 23:02:21
Former fashion mogul Peter Nygard was found guilty Sunday in Toronto of sexual assault against four of the five women who accused him, following a seven-week trial to be followed by three others at Canada and the United States for similar facts.
After five consecutive days of deliberation, the jury did not retain against him the charge of sexual assault against one of these five complainants nor that of false imprisonment. The six charges against the 82-year-old former Finnish-Canadian fashion boss concerned four women and a 16-year-old girl at the time of the events, over a period stretching from 1988 to 2005. His sentence will be known later.
The lawyer does not rule out appealing
Upon leaving the courthouse, Peter Nygard’s lawyer did not rule out the possibility of appealing. “We will consider this option,” Brian Greenspan told reporters. During the closing arguments, he criticized the way his client had been portrayed during the trial and claimed that this case was based on “contradictions and insinuations”.
“Describing Peter Nygard as an evil predator, a Jekyll and Hyde personality who, through his wealth and power, lured women into his lair to subject them to sexual demands is neither fair nor accurate,” he said. declared. According to him, four of the five women who testified against the ex-fashion designer could have done so for financial reasons because they admitted to being also involved in the class action against Peter Nygard in the United States.
“Remarkably similar” testimonies
Prosecutor Ana Serban, for her part, argued that the accused was evasive, incoherent and that his memory was selective and unreliable when he himself spoke. The latter noted that the testimonies of the five complainants were “remarkably similar” in how they met Peter Nygard and were invited to his office building, where “he sexually assaulted them in his private room”.
“These similarities are not the result of chance,” said the prosecutor, seeing it as a “recurring” modus operandi. During his testimony, the accused said he did not know and even never met four of the complainants and vehemently denied having sexually assaulted any of the five.
Extradition planned to the United States
“The kind of allegations that have been raised and described represent a type of behavior that I have never had and never will,” he said. The octogenarian admitted that his memory had become “very fuzzy” with age. He had also repeatedly stated that the allegations against him were “ridiculous” and made “no sense”.
This trial in Ontario Superior Court was the first in a series targeting Peter Nygard for sex crimes against numerous women in Canada and the United States over several decades. The ex-designer must therefore be tried in two other Canadian provinces, Quebec and Manitoba, for similar charges.
He must also be extradited to the United States, where he faces nine charges including racketeering and sex trafficking, for acts which allegedly occurred between 1990 and 2020. Peter Nygard will return to court at Toronto on November 21, when the date of the hearings which will determine his sentence will be set.
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