Convicted sexual predator Peter Nygard ‘abused’ the justice system, journalist says | Canada Tonight

an Ontario judge handed former fashion giant Peter nyard an 11-year prison sentence for four counts of sexual assault here's more from cbc's Jamie stashin in Toronto Justice Robert Goldstein called disgraced fashion Mogul Peter niggard a sexual predator who used his position of power and wealth to take advantage of women calling it a Canadian success story gone very wrong Justice Goldstein sentenced Mr nyard accordingly and found him to have committed these sexual assaults uh in a way that makes him as we have been saying uh recognizes the description of him as a sexual predator in the sentencing the judge called niggard a narcissist who felt entitled to do whatever he wanted niggard was convicted of sexually assaulting Four Women in the private bedroom of his Toronto fashion headquarters between the 1980s and mid 2000s one was just 16 victim's Advocate Shannon Maron read a statement from one of the women we did this to ensure every victim of sexual assault will remember this trial and feel the strength and confidence to come forward and not be threatened by social status or money the dozens of women from around the world have alleged they were assaulted by niggard he faces charges in Manitoba Quebec and the United States some of those alleged victims were here in court for the sentencing many of us have waited for this day um for quite a few years for me I'm a 21e Survivor I've been waiting for this day for 21 years the 83-year-old wore a black Canada Goose Parker with a hood over his head his bearded face shielded by a visor he declined to address the court the judge mostly rejected calls for leniency based on nygard's age and failing Health nygard's lawyer promises to appeal the conviction and the sentence so he's just going to continue to uh defend himself where he can can appeal where he can and continue to maintain his innocence in all of these matters for nyard this marks the end of a stunning fall once a rich and Powerful player in the Fashion World now likely to spend his final years in prison Jamie stashin CBC News Toronto well our guest for tonight's Spotlight has been investigating the nigar case for over a decade Timothy Sawa is an investigative journalists for The Fifth Estate and host of Evil By Design the cbc's podcast series investigating Peter nard Timothy thank you so much for coming in today thanks for having me I think there's been a huge range of emotions I think certainly for you over you know over a decade now but now looking at um this sentencing uh 11 years for four counts of sexual assault hearing that now some I guess some level of conf conclusion maybe what's going through your mind I mean I don't know what is enough for for what he has done to so many people when I heard 11 years my first reaction was it's not enough but I don't know if I would have had a reaction to any amount that would have sounded like enough just given the the amount of lives he's destroyed and the people he's you know damaged for you know and impacted for forever so it yeah yeah it yeah I mean I was in the courtroom um a while back when we're expecting sentencing to come and listened to some of those Victim Impact statements and one woman saying just in one day her entire life has just been changed has been ruined you have spoken to so many of these um Brave women Brave women um talk to me a bit more about that perhaps what your sense might be in terms of what they may be feeling right now might be thinking I think that when he was charged initially and and and put behind bars that that was where when the biggest sense of relief came because he couldn't do it anymore right and this will make sure that he can't do anything to anybody um for at least the next seven years and there are more trials to come and more charges to be you know that he's going to be tried for so I think he's in his 80s so they probably a good chance that he won't see you know freedom for the rest of his life and I think that is probably where the the most sense of relief comes that nobody else will have to deal with this I think the other thing that happened today which to me I think was significant is um like his survivors have called him a sexual predator the police have called him a sexual predator journalists have called him CBC has called him a sexual Predator but today a judge called him a sexual predator I think that means something to to people and I certainly was meant something to me to hear that and and this goes on the record this is in the books as you point out which is so critical and in your years of investigating this um this was not just a extremely disturbing case but it was in many ways risky for you you faced uh you know he he sued you I believe at least once um walk me through that a little bit because you know there was I guess you've had an individual who felt they had so much power they could do anything they could as they've quashed so many journalists voices in the past yeah that has been his Mo you know for decades yeah whenever a journalist or even a woman or or a member of his staff tries to hold him accountable for any of his behavior is he goes to the courts and with his resources he just you know he can outc Court almost everybody except thankfully the CBC so when we started working on this case and he has sued me and the CBC and my colleagues I can't tell you how many times 12 it's it's including criminally we faced criminal charges um which were thrown out um yeah I mean he has this has been his way one of the ways he's kept the silence around him around his behavior and when we finally got involved over 10 years ago and and he started launching lawsuits the CBC said you know fine Bring it on and we're going to keep working on this and we did and I think by doing that you've really open the door um for other journalists but I think for so many victims whether you're talking about a Peter monard or others and we know that there's many many other cases as well that even don't get reported women that may have recently been sexually assaulted and now perhaps feel some sense of righteousness to say that I can say something and I will have someone have my back when we look at the damage that something like this can do and and in your um research and convers ations so not just the damage to the victims but we look at our legal system as well give me a sense here of what we see that's gone wrong but what we need to now pivot to make right I think that there is no doubt he abused the the legal system and the justice system in his decades and trying to keep all of this silent in particular in Manitoba I think there are questions in Manitoba about the justice system and how they approached Peter nyard I mean there were there were charges in Manitoba against him that the police said should be carried forward and the prosecutors refused there was an outside review of those charges and one of those charges is now going ahead but there are a lot of questions in particular in Manitoba about the justice system and that's where we faced the majority of our charges right was in Manitoba that's where he managed to get a criminal case launched against the CBC for criminal liel and um how that got as far as it did is is an incredible feat I think but his his money and his power and his influence in Manitoba I think we're still starting to you know still figuring out how big that was yeah yeah still charges in Manitoba as you mentioned also in Quebec nine charges I believe in New York so those are all still cases that are pending and still need to need to happen there you'll be following that but I want to talk to you about your podcast um as well um how in depth you got uh with that it was a nine-part podcast series um despite everything despite you mentioned the number of lawsuits and whatnot and and I know threats and and and and it is a scary situation you still forged forward why I think it was the people who were talking to me and us at the CBC I mean it was the women who came forward it was the whistleblowers who came forward inside his company that's how this started people from inside his company came to us and said we can't believe what we're seeing and they helped us at Great their own you know Peril um and then the women who started to talk to us about what had happened to them I mean that that is what kept us going that is what yeah made us keep this going all these years for sure and I know the work's not over yet as we mentioned those other cases but brilliant work that you and the team have been doing over at Fifth Estate thank you so much for this Timothy we'll be following it as and sure surely be having more conversations with you thanks for having me appreciate it you're very welcome that was the fifth Estates Timothy Salwa