Former Canadian fashion mogul Peter Nygard has been found guilty on four out of five counts of sexual assault, with the Toronto jury delivering the verdict regarding attacks that took place at his Toronto office building. Nygard, renowned for founding Nygard International, a women’s apparel company, displayed little emotion during the reading of the verdict, and he was acquitted of one count of forcible confinement.
In a six-week trial, five women testified about assaults that occurred between the late 1980s and 2005 in Nygard's private bedroom suite. The victims, four in their 20s and one at the age of 16, recounted being offered a tour of Nygard's Toronto office building that concluded in his private bedroom, where the assaults took place. Some highlighted feeling trapped in the bedroom, describing a door with no handle on the inside and doors outside that could only be unlocked with a button or security code. One woman testified to pleading with Nygard to be let out before he eventually agreed.
Throughout the trial, Nygard maintained his innocence, asserting he didn't recall four of the five women or any interaction with them. He argued there was a handle on the inside of his bedroom door. His attorney, Brian Greenspan, insisted that the described sexual assaults never occurred, suggesting the women testified due to their involvement in a U.S. class-action lawsuit against Nygard, involving 57 women with assault allegations dating back to 1977 when some were 14 or 15 years old. The civil lawsuit is currently on hold, while Nygard also faces sexual assault charges in Manitoba and Quebec.
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