'Sexual predator' Peter Nygard sentenced to 11 years for 4 counts of sexual assault

Former Canadian fashion mogul Peter Nygard, who was found guilty last November of four counts of sexual assaultafter being accused of attacking five women inhis downtownToronto office, has been sentenced to 11years 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 describedNygard as a "sexual predator" and a "Canadian success story gone very wrong" who usedhis wealth and power to commit foursexual assaults.

Outside the courthouse, Shannon Moroney, a therapist who worked withfour of the five accusers, read a statement from one of the four victims, who said they finally have closure.

"We did this to ensure every victim of sexual assault will remember this trial and feel the strength and confidence to come forward and not be threatened by social status or money,"Moroney quoted the woman as saying.

Nygardsat in the courtroomwearing a black Canada Goose parka with a hood over his head. His beardedface was largely obscured by paper shields that court heard he wears around his glasses because of an eye condition that makes him sensitive to light.

Before his sentencing,Goldsteinasked Nygard if he had anything to say.

"No sir," he said, quietly.

Crown attorneys who prosecuted Nygard had been seeking a 15-year sentence in a federal prison.

Nygard's lawyer, Winnipeg-based Gerri Wiebe, said after the sentencing that her client would be appealing the conviction and sentence.

They 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.

WATCH |Nygard will appeal conviction and sentence, lawyer says:

Peter Nygard will appeal after judge issues 11-year sentence, lawyer says

2 days ago

Duration 2:53

Gerri Wiebe, Peter Nygard's defence lawyer, says her client will 'most certainly' be appealing after he was sentenced to 11 years in prison, minus time served, after a conviction last year on four counts of sexual assault.

Crown attorney Neville Golwalla, who wouldn't comment on the length of the sentence imposed on Nygard, said that what jumped out was thatGoldstein, in his first paragraph of his sentencing statement, referred to Nygard as a sexual predator.

"And that is the story, that was the finding of the jury," he said. "Thesentence that was passed today is reflecting that reality."

WATCH |Crown speaks after Peter Nygard given 11-year sentence in Toronto:

Crown speaks after Peter Nygard given 11-year sentence in Toronto

2 days ago

Duration 0:52

Neville Golwalla, a Crown attorney in Toronto, said Monday that he's not surprised that Peter Nygard will try to appeal after being given an 11-year sentence in a sex assault case. 'We will cross that bridge when we get to it.'

Graphic testimony

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.

Goldstein said that while he took Nygard's age and deteriorating health into account in his sentencing, there was a limit to those issues as mitigating factors.

Goldsteinsaid while Nygard'shealth had obviously deteriorated while he was in custody his medical issues include suffering from Type 2 diabetes he could not discount "someexaggeration" on Nygard's part.

He said Nygard, to a significant degree, was the author of his own misfortune and committed these crimes when men felt they were immune from any consequence.

Goldstein said if he were to punishNygard less harshly because he is now elderly, it would validate that immunity. He said it would alsosend a message that if you're richand powerful, and yourvictims are vulnerable, you can "escape culpability if you hold off the day of judgment long enough."

Goldsteinsaid he also took into account aggravating factors, which included the violence involved in the attacks, as well as the deliberate degradationof the victims, and his manipulation of them.

Another aggravatingfactor was the fact these assaults took place over years,meaning"he didn'tmoderate or change his behaviour," Goldstein said.

In custody since 2020

Goldstein said some of the letters submitted on Nygard'sbehalf provided limited mitigating value but were from business associates who benefitted financially from Nygard

The judge said it was obviousNygard had encouraged the letter writers to observe that they hadnever seen Nygard abuse a woman. Those were "meaningless observations", Goldstein said, as most sexual offences take place in private.

As well, it's not a mitigatingfactor to point to the "many women he did not rape," Goldstein said.

LISTEN |Winnipeg woman who claims she was attacked by Nygard talks about the sentencing:

As It Happens6:01Winnipegger at Peter Nygard sentencing: He was such a coward. He wouldn't look at us

When a Toronto judge sentenced Peter Nygard to 11 years in prison for sexual assault, he described the former Canadian fashion mogul as a sexual predator. Those words rang true for Serena Hickes, who alleges Nygard raped her more than 30 years ago in Winnipeg. Prosecutors declined to charge Nygard in that case, though he does still face several sexual assault charges in Manitoba and Quebec. Hickes was there to see him sentenced on Monday. She spoke to As It Happens host Nil Kksal about the experience.

Nygard 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.