Peter Nygard Faces Sex Trafficking Class Action as More Than 100 Witnesses Come Forward

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Canadian businessman Peter Nygard and his companies have been hit with a class action lawsuit accusing Nygard of sexually assaulting at least 10 women, some of whom were younger than 18 at the time they were allegedly assaulted.

The victims accuse Nygard of using his connections in the fashion industry to entice young women with promises of a modeling career or money. According to the sex trafficking class action lawsuit, Nygard “recruited, lured and enticed young, impressionable and often impoverished children and women, with cash payments and false promises of lucrative modelling opportunities to assault, rape and sodomize them.”

None of the women who are accusing Nygard are named in the complaint, which is nearly 100 pages long. Seven of the 10 plaintiffs say they were under the age of 18 when they were victimized by Nygard, and three claim they were only 14 years old at the time. Two of the plaintiffs were employees of Nygard and they allege that he raped them.

The sexual assault class action lawsuit says Nygard engaged in sex trafficking at a compound he built in the Bahamas in the 1980s, which was called Nygard Cay. Some women were reportedly held at Nygard Cay and claim they were unable to leave without Nygard’s permission. In some cases, victims reported that their passports would be confiscated until they had sex with Nygard.

Additionally, the victims claim they were forced “through a combination of fraud, coercion, psychological force and manipulation, and physical force” to perform sexual acts, according to the sex trafficking class action lawsuit.

The women were also allegedly forced to recruit new sexual assault victims. Nygard reportedly maintained a database of potential victims on his company’s server. The server allegedly contained information about more than 7,500 women and girls, according to the sexual assault lawsuit.

The defendants named in the sexual assault class action lawsuit include Nygard as well as his companies Nygard International Partnership and Nygard Holding Ltd., which allegedly were knowing participants in the “decades-long sex trafficking scheme.”

Employees of Nygard’s companies allegedly invited young women to “pamper parties” at Nygard Cay, which is the site where much of the alleged sexual abuse occurred. The employees would reportedly transport the women to and from the parties. The Nygard Companies allegedly paid cash to many of the victims who attended the “pamper parties.”

The sex trafficking class action lawsuit also includes allegations that Nygard bribed law enforcement to help him conceal his sex trafficking scheme.

Since the sexual assault class action lawsuit was filed last week in New York federal court, more than 100 people have come forward with information about sexual assault and human trafficking allegations against Nygard.

This number also reportedly includes dozens of alleged victims who claim they have evidence of sexual abuse and rape, according to the lawyers who represent the alleged victims in the sexual assault class action lawsuit.

Do you think this class action lawsuit against Peter Nygard will be successful? Tell us your thoughts in the comment section below! 

The plaintiffs are represented by Greg G. Gutzler, Adam J. Levitt, Amy E. Keller, Mark A. DiCello, Robert F. DiCello, Justin J. Hawal of DiCello Levitt Gutzler LLC. and Lisa Haba of The Haba Law Firm, P.A.

The sexual assault and sex trafficking class action lawsuit is Jane Does Nos. 1-10 v. Peter J. Nygard, et al., Case No. 1:20-cv-01288, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

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