A Toronto jury has found Peter Nygard, the former executive of a collapsed fashion empire, guilty of four counts of sexual assault after a six-week trial. He was acquitted of one count of sexual assault and one count of forcible confinement. Nygard, 82, who has been in jail for the past two years, is also expected to stand trial on charges of sex crimes in Montreal and Winnipeg. Following the Canadian proceedings, he will be extradited to New York to face charges including sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy. Nygard’s sentencing date will be determined later this month.
The verdict marks the first criminal conviction against Nygard and comes after five women testified that they were sexually assaulted by him between the 1980s and 2005. They said they were lured to his Toronto headquarters under false pretenses and sexually assaulted. Nygard’s son, Kai Bickle, who renounced his father’s last name, was present in the courtroom during the verdict. Nygard will also face a class-action lawsuit in the United States filed by four of the women involved in the Toronto trial.