Peter Nygard appears before Montreal judge on sex charges

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MONTREAL — Canadian vogue mogul Peter Nygard appeared nearly earlier than a Quebec courtroom decide from a Toronto jail on Tuesday on costs of sexual assault and forcible confinement relationship again almost 25 years.

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Nygard, in an orange jumpsuit together with his hair tied again, took notes throughout the transient proceedings earlier than Choose Anne-Marie Lanctot.

He was represented by Montreal lawyer Laurence Juillet, who waived the studying of the fees and reserved a call on whether or not a future trial can be earlier than a jury or a decide alone.

Disclosure of proof might be achieved as early as Tuesday, with the Montreal case set to return to courtroom on April 4. Nygard is not going to be required to seem in courtroom subsequent Monday for what his lawyer described as a procedural listening to.

An arrest warrant issued in Montreal alleges Nygard, 80, dedicated one rely of sexual assault and one rely of forcible confinement involving the identical sufferer, between Nov. 1, 1997, and Nov. 15, 1998.

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Exterior the courtroom, prosecutor Jerome Laflamme informed reporters he was restricted in what he might say concerning the case, together with the gender of the alleged sufferer. He did verify the sufferer was over 18 years outdated on the time of the alleged crimes.

A publication ban was requested within the Montreal case and the Crown has opposed bail — a technicality since Nygard is already detained whereas dealing with sex-related costs in Toronto and america.

“That’s the place we’ll resolve whether or not we’ll set a date for his bail listening to or not, however the prosecution is objecting to his launch,” Laflamme mentioned of the subsequent courtroom date. “The prosecution will insist on a speedy trial.”

Final fall, Nygard was charged in Toronto with six counts of sexual assault and three counts of forcible confinement in alleged incidents relationship again to the late Eighties and mid-2000s. He has denied these allegations.

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Earlier this yr, a Toronto courtroom rejected his bid to be launched on bail.

Nygard can be dealing with extradition to america.

He was first arrested in Winnipeg in 2020 underneath the Extradition Act after being charged with 9 sex-related counts in New York. Authorities within the U.S. allege he used his place within the vogue trade to lure girls and women. Nygard, who has denied the allegations by means of his lawyer, had agreed to be extradited to the U.S. to face a cost of intercourse trafficking.

Final week, federal Justice Minister David Lametti mentioned he issued an order stating Nygard might be extradited to the U.S., however added, “solely after present legal costs in Canada have been addressed.” Laflamme informed reporters Tuesday that the completion of the Montreal case is a part of the circumstances for extradition.

The previous head of a multimillion-dollar clothes firm additionally faces a class-action lawsuit within the U.S. involving 57 girls with related allegations.