The name of fashion executive and designer Peter Nygard is illuminated on a flagship store he once owned in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada December 15, 2020. REUTERS/Shannon VanRaes Acquire Licensing Rights
Nov 12 (Reuters) – Former Canadian fashion mogul Peter Nygard was found guilty of four counts of sexual assault by a Toronto jury on Sunday, according to CBC News.
Nygard, 82, was on trial in the Ontario Superior Court for five counts of sexual assault and one count of forcible confinement charges linked to incidents between the 1980s and mid-2000s.
He was acquitted of a fifth count of sexual assault and one count of forcible confinement.
Nygard’s lawyer did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
During the six-week trial, the court heard testimony from five complainants who said during a period between the late 1980s to around 2005 Nygard had attacked them in the private bedroom suite of his Toronto downtown office building, CBC News reported.
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 U.S. where he faces 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, CBC News said.
Born in Finland, Nygard grew up in Manitoba, eventually running his namesake clothing companies and becoming one of Canada’s wealthiest people.
Reporting by Nia Williams and Ismail Shakil; Editing by Andrea Ricci and Lisa Shumaker
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