Peter Nygård, a fashion mogul and friend of deceased convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, has been arrested on sex-trafficking charges. The 79-year-old is now being held in custody in the United States.
According to the charges against him, Nygård abused both women and underage girls, using his wealth and power to cover up his crimes. It is also alleged that he held so called 'pamper parties' on his own private island in the Bahamas, where other wealthy and powerful people were involved in the abuse.
The allegations bear a striking resemblance to the charges made against disgraced investor Jeffrey Epstein, who killed himself in a prison in New York while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges. Many believe that Epstein did not kill himself but was, in fact, murdered by wealthy and powerful associates who did not want their involvement in his sex-trafficking ring to be made public.
The abuse committed by Nygård is alleged to have happened in the United States, Canada and the Bahamas. It is said that he and his friends often drugged the victims, some as young as 14, before raping them, and that they specifically targeted victims from poor backgrounds believing that they were less likely to go to the authorities.
This is not however the first time allegations against Nygård have come to light, though he has never been convicted of a sex-crime before. In 1980 he was accused by an 18-year-old girl of raping her in Winnipeg. It has been suggested that Nygård later paid the victim compensation. Earlier this year, 10 women filed a lawsuit against the fashion mogul saying that they were lured by Nygård with the promise of modelling opportunities, some when they were just 14 or 15, but that he then drugged and molested them.
In 2005, a Finnish newspaper published allegations about Nygård and young girls. This included an interview with Hollywood actress Jessica Alba who said that she saw young girls at a party at Nygård's mansion and that she was so uncomfortable with what she saw that she had to leave.
In what is a telling move, Peter Nygård's oldest son took to Twitter to state that he was glad that his father had been arrested.
Peter Nygard's eldest son says he is relieved his father is in custody. Brittany Greenslade reports. pic.twitter.com/FMA45s0hPq
— Global Winnipeg (@globalwinnipeg) December 16, 2020
No date has yet been set for trial.
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