Sex Trafficking and Commercial Sex Crimes

On Tuesday, December 15, the U.S. attorney’s office, the F.B.I., and the New York Police Department charged an influential and wealthy fashion executive with sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy, and several other related crimes that involved dozens of women and girls as young as 14 over a 25-year-period. More than 80 women from the United States, the Bahamas, and Canada have signed on as plaintiffs. At the time of the assault, many victims were sought out to be models or actresses, recruited by Nygaard’s company.

According to The New York Times, Peter Nygard is “accused of targeting victims from disadvantaged economic backgrounds and, in some cases, with a history of abuse. Mr. Nygard sexually assaulted some, it said, while his associates assaulted or drugged others to ensure their compliance with Nygard’s sexual demands.”

Nygard, who is now 79-years-old, is facing a nine-count federal indictment. The Federal prosecutors said Nygard used his company’s influence and resources to recruit adult and “minor-aged female victims” for the sexual gratification of him and his associates. According to a release by the U.S. Justice Department, Nygard used various tools to recruit women and minors for sex, including:

• Events hosted at Nygard’s properties in Marina del Rey, California and in the Bahamas, including so-called “Pamper Parties,” named for the free food, drink, and spa services that Nygard made available. Nygard frequently used a “girlfriend” or another employee to approach a chosen woman or girl to indicate his interest in sex. Nygard engaged in sexual activity with the victim on the premises and paid her cash. Some unwilling participants, including minors, were drugged to force their compliance with his sexual demands. Other victims had no advance warning of Nygard’s interest in sexual activity before being lured to a secluded area of the property where Nygard used physical force and/or psychological pressure to coerce sex.
• Sex and “swingers” clubs, where Nygard directed and pressured “girlfriends” through manipulation, intimidation, degradation, threats and, on occasion, force, to engage in sex with other men in order to facilitate Nygard having sex with other women and for his own sexual gratification.
• Sexual “swaps” with male friends and business associates, who would bring Nygard a “date” for sex in exchange for sexual access to one of Nygard’s “girlfriends.” Nygard did not inform “girlfriends” in advance that he would trade them for sex and often used manipulation, intimidation, degradation, and threats to ensure compliance.

This is not the first news of Nygaard’s involvement in sex trafficking, rape, or sexual assault. For nearly four decades, similar complaints have followed the fashion mogul and led to accusations of dozens of commercial sex crimes. In February 2020, a neighbor filed a lawsuit accusing Nygard of sexually assaulting minors after being lured into his home in the Bahamas, a compound he described to others as the “Eighth Wonder of the World.”

Nygard has since been arrested in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and being held in a Manitoba jail, awaiting extradition by the U.S. Attorney’s office. The arrest was made after an investigation conducted by a joint child exploitation task force.