After a 10-month police investigation into claims of sexual assault from eight women, disgraced apparel entrepreneur Peter Nygard will not face prosecution in his hometown of Winnipeg, The Fifth Estate has learnt.
Furthermore, The Fifth Estate’s study exposes a history of Nygard escaping prosecution when rape charges were filed to Winnipeg police over several decades.
According to Winnipeg Police Chief Danny Smyth, their current inquiry entailed reviewing 15 cases, interviewing 29 witnesses, including survivors, and gathering over 1,600 documents. In the end, Manitoba’s Justice Ministry received eight files for examination. Prosecutors opted not to press charges in all of the cases, according to Smyth. Nygard, the former CEO of a multibillion-dollar apparel enterprise located in Winnipeg, is currently being held in custody in Toronto on six counts of sexual assault and three counts of illegal detention. Nygard also faces additional sex trafficking charges in New York City, where prosecutors allege that over the course of 25 years, he drugged and sexually abused “at least dozens of women and minor-aged female victims” with the help of his firm. “Mr. Nygard disputes any accusation of illegal activity,” lawyer Brian Greenspan said outside one of the hearings.
He has never been charged with a sex offence in Winnipeg, though.
A request for an interview with Winnipeg police was turned down. Smyth, though, told The Fifth Estate that he didn’t make the decision not to prosecute Nygard. Manitoba’s Justice Ministry and Prosecution Office declined to grant an interview or provide a statement explaining why charges were not filed.