The legal saga surrounding Peter Nygard took a significant turn as Saskatchewan prosecutors announced they would not challenge a Manitoba judge’s decision to halt a sexual assault case. This decision effectively ends the pursuit of charges stemming from an alleged incident three decades prior.
The case centered around accusations that Nygard sexually assaulted a woman in Winnipeg in 1993. She initially reported the incident to both Winnipeg police and the Vancouver RCMP, but at the time, chose not to pursue charges. The investigation, however, resurfaced years later, leading to charges laid in 2023.
A critical blow to the prosecution came when Nygard’s legal team revealed the disappearance of crucial evidence: notes from the original 1993 police interviews. These records, presumed lost to the passage of time and standard purging procedures, proved to be a pivotal point in the judge’s ruling.
Manitoba Judge Mary Kate Harvie determined that the missing documentation constituted an abuse of process, leading her to stay the charges. Saskatchewan Justice had been tasked with an independent review after Manitoba prosecutors initially declined to proceed, but ultimately found no grounds for an appeal based on legal error.
The absence of these original interview notes created a significant hurdle for the Crown, as the Criminal Code restricts appeals to cases involving demonstrable legal mistakes. While prosecutors believed a different outcome was warranted, they couldn’t identify any errors in the judge’s process to justify a challenge.
The complainant alleged she was confined and assaulted within one of Nygard’s company warehouses. This incident, though reported, remained unprosecuted for years until renewed attention to Nygard’s conduct brought it back into the spotlight.
Nygard, once a prominent figure in the fashion world, founded his global women’s clothing empire in Winnipeg in 1967. His empire began to crumble in February 2020 following raids by the FBI and police in New York.
Despite this outcome in Manitoba, Nygard’s legal troubles are far from over. He is currently serving an 11-year sentence for sex offences in Toronto and faces ongoing legal battles in Quebec. Furthermore, he is awaiting potential extradition to the United States to face charges of sex trafficking and racketeering.
