Peter Nygard sexual assault trial in Toronto to hear opening arguments

Mark Gollom · CBC News

· Posted: Sep 26, 2023 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 4 hours ago

WARNING: This article contains descriptions of sexual abuse.

Canadian fashion mogul Peter Nygard used his “power and status” to lure and sexually assault five women in the private bedroom suite of his downtown Toronto headquarters from the late 1980s to 2005, a Toronto court heard Tuesday morning, as opening arguments got underway.

Crown attorney Ana Serban gave a brief but detailed synopsis of each of the attacks Nygard, now 82, is alleged to have committed against the women, who ranged in age from 16 to 28 at the time.

Nygard pleaded not guilty last week in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice to five counts of sexual assault and one count of forcible confinement.

Serban opened with a description of Nygard at the time of the alleged attacks as someone with a fashion empire, wealth, status, power and influence, including owning a private jet and property all over the world.

It was Nygard’s power and status, Serban told court, that he used to “lure and sexually assault young women.”

Nygard established a similar pattern of sexual assault, court was told. He had met these women previously, and that initial meeting would later lead to what Serban described as “the tour” of his Toronto headquarters, located at 1 Niagara Street.

Eventually the tour would end in Nygard’s private bedroom suite, which included a bed, televisions and a Jacuzzi, as well as doors without handles and locks controlled by Nygard, the Crown alleged.

It was here that Nygard would attack the women, pinning them to the bed, where they would struggle against him but ultimately be overpowered, the Crown said. Court was told that two of the women asked or begged Nygard to put a condom on before the alleged sexual assault.

One woman went to a Rolling Stones concert with Nygard and afterward ended up at his private bedroom suite, court heard. There, he locked the door and asked her to make him a sandwich.

After she obliged, Nygard screamed at and berated the woman for being a tease and not going along with his advances, court heard. When she said she wanted to leave, he pinned her to the bed, but after struggling, then realizing there was nothing she could do, she told him to “at least put a f–king condom on,” court heard.

After the alleged assault, Nygard threw a $100 bill her way, court heard.

In at least two of the alleged attacks, others were also present, the Crown said. In the case of the 16-year-old, court heard that another woman joined in the alleged assault. Afterward, the woman gave the teen some pills and called her the next day to tell her to take them all, court was told; they were later determined to be morning-after emergency contraceptive pills.

All five complainants are expected to testify during the approximately seven-week trial.

On Tuesday, Nygard was brought into the courtroom in a wheelchair, wearing a black suit and white shirt, with no tie, and black-rimmed glasses. His hands were cuffed in front of him, with his long white hair tied back into a bun. 

Nygard was uncuffed and helped by a court security guard into his seat at the defence table, where he took a seat beside his lawyers. A prior agreement outlined he would be allowed to sit with his defence team and have access to a pen.

Nygard stood, showing no emotion, as the charges against him were read to the jury.

WATCH | Nygard could be extradited to U.S. to face charges there: 

Arguments have begun in Peter Nygard’s Toronto trial. The former Canadian fashion mogul is accused of using his power and status to lure and sexually assault five women in a private bedroom suite in his downtown Toronto headquarters from 1988 to 2005.

Following the Crown’s opening statement, court heard from two witnesses, including a former contractor of Nygard’s who gave details of the building at 1 Niagara Street, including the floor on which Nygard’s private bedroom suite was located.

David Gauthier testified about a door of the suite with an electromagnetic lock that, if exiting the door from inside, could only be unlocked from a panel on a table near Nygard’s bed.

Nygard also faces sex-related charges in Manitoba and Quebec, and is set to be extradited to the U.S. to face sex-related charges there once his criminal cases in Canada are completed.

He founded the now-defunct Nygard International in Winnipeg in 1967, but stepped down as chairman of the clothing company in February 2020 before it filed for bankruptcy.