Lawyer Brian Greenspan (left to right), Justice Robert Goldstein and Peter Nygard attend Nygard's sexual assault trial in Toronto on Wednesday, Oct.25, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Alexandra Newbould
TORONTO – Former fashion mogul Peter Nygard is testifying in his own defence for a second day at his sexual assault trial in Toronto.
Nygard, the founder of a now-defunct international women’s clothing company, is accused of using his position in the fashion industry to lure women and girls.
The 82-year-old has pleaded not guilty to five counts of sexual assault and one count of forcible confinement in alleged incidents ranging from the 1980s to mid-2000s.
Multiple complainants in the trial have alleged they were taken to Nygard’s Toronto headquarters under pretences ranging from tours to job interviews, with encounters ending in a top-floor bedroom suite where they allege they were sexually assaulted.
Some of the testimony court heard from complainants included allegations of being trapped within the suite.
Nygard told the jury Wednesday that there was no way someone could get locked inside the suite because it had three exits and only one of them required a passcode since it led to his office.
Under questioning from his lawyer, Brian Greenspan, Nygard has spent more time today explaining the layout of his company’s headquarters at 1 Niagara St. in Toronto, and describing various images of the building’s interior.
Nygard also described a dresser in his private suite that he said was placed behind a mirrored door and therefore not visible from the bed in the room.
When Greenspan asked him if there were “boxes and boxes” of condoms stored in that dresser, Nygard said no, but added that there were likely “some” condoms in a drawer.
Nygard founded the company that later became Nygard International in Winnipeg in 1967, and stepped down as chairman of the clothing company in February 2020 before it filed for bankruptcy.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 26, 2023.
