Prosecutors at a Toronto sentencing hearing are asking for Peter Nygard to be sentenced to 15 years in prison after the former fashion mogul was found guilty of four counts of sexual assault last fall.
“This is not an isolated incident but rather can only be properly characterized as a pattern of behaviour where Mr. Nygard used his wealth, his privilege, his resources and his reputation in [the] fashion business and industry to his advantage,” Crown attorney Neville Golwalla said Wednesday during the first day of what’s scheduled to be a two-day sentencing hearing.
“This pattern should be understood for what it is: simply put, predatory.”
The sentencing process has been delayed in part because Nygard’s two previous defence lawyers, Brian Greenspan and Megan Savard, asked to withdraw from the case earlier this year.
Last week the disgraced fashion mogul lost a bid to have his sentencing hearing pushed back once again.
On Wednesday, Nygard appeared in court before Toronto Superior Court Justice Robert Goldstein during the hearing and sat next to his current lawyer, Winnipeg-based Gerri Wiebe. The 83-year-old wore a black parka with a hood up over his head, his face largely obscured from view.
Golwalla said the Crown’s recommendation is the result of suggested consecutive sentences of five years for three of the sexual assaults, and four years for another that didn’t go as far as the others because Nygard was interrupted by an intercom message announcing his next appointment, court heard.
It also takes into account factors including that Nygard is now an octogenarian with significant health and legal challenges ahead of him, which Golwalla said knocked the Crown’s recommended sentence down from 19 years by four years, while still reflecting the gravity of the “planned and deliberate” offences and “what can only be understood as the high degree of moral culpability” of the offender.
Woman says attack ‘tainted’ her life
That point was underscored by victim impact statements provided in court by three of the four victims, as well as the mother of one of those three women, which detailed how the attacks derailed the women’s lives and led to years of effects that included panic attacks, anxiety, depression, insomnia, trust issues and suicidal ideation.
One of those women, who addressed the court in person, said the attack “tainted” her life “in a debilitating way” and that she feared for her safety for years until Nygard was incarcerated.
Another, who read her statement virtually, said writing the statement itself was difficult because it meant acknowledging “the damage this incident has done to me, to my life, to my relationships, to my career , to my mental health,and let’s be honest — to the future for the rest of my life.”
Nygard was found guilty on four counts of sexual assault on Nov. 12, but was acquitted of a fifth count, as well as a charge of forcible confinement.
The charges relate to incidents dating from the 1980s until the mid-2000s, and involve three women in their 20s and another who was 16 at the time.
Nygard, who once led a multimillion-dollar clothing empire, has faced health challenges throughout the case, and his health is expected to be raised further during sentencing submissions.
He is also facing charges in Manitoba, Quebec and the United States.
Manitoba trial on sexual assault charges delayed
His Manitoba trial on sexual assault-related charges has been delayed in part due to Greenspan’s resignation as his defence lawyer in that case, as well as the Toronto one.
Nygard also faces one count of sexual assault and one count of forcible confinement in Quebec.
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.
Manitoba’s highest court dismissed Nygard’s application in May for a judicial review of his extradition order, finding there was no reason to interfere with the order issued by then-federal justice minister David Lametti.
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.
Prosecutors in the Toronto case are also seeking a 10-year weapons prohibition, that he should provide a sample of DNA for the national police database as well as an order putting Nygard on the sexual offender registry for life, Golwalla said.