By: Staff Writer
September 10, 2024
The disgraced Peter Nygard, fashion mogul extraordinaire who had a lavish enclave in the luxury gated community Lyford Cay in The Bahamas, was sentenced to 11 years in a Canadian prison for sexual assault related crimes.
Nygard is a “sexual predator” and a “Canadian success story gone very wrong,” Justice Robert Goldstein said.
The 83-year-old was convicted last November by a jury after he denied the charges.
Prosecutors sought a 15-year prison sentence for Nygard, arguing that he displayed a “pattern of behaviour” when he assaulted the women.
His defence team argued for a sentence of less than two years, asking the judge to factor in his advanced age, declining health and the time he has already spent behind bars.
The sentencing is not the end of Nygard’s legal challenges.
He faces separate sexual assault and sex trafficking charges in Montreal and Winnipeg as well as in the US.
He has denied any wrongdoing and the other charges have not been tested in court.
Nygard’s 11-year sentence will take into account the time he has already spent behind bars meaning he has more than 6 years left to serve. He will be eligible for full parole in about two years.
In December 2020, federal prosecutors in Manhattan unsealed a nine-count indictment against Nygard alleging that he enticed young and impoverished women to his estate in the Bahamas with cash and promises of modeling opportunities.
At least 10 women filed suit against Nygard in New York, alleging that they were as young as 14 or 15 years old when he gave them alcohol or drugs and then raped them.
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.