Crown presses Nygard to admit he had interactions with sex assault complainants

Peter Nygard was repeatedly pressed by the prosecution on Wednesday to admit he had interactions with some of the complainants accusing him of sexual assault, allegations the one-time Canadian fashion mogul continued to deny.

Nygard has told court that he doesn't recall four of the five women complainants, all of whom have alleged that they were attacked by him in his private bedroom suite at his Toronto headquarters during a period spanning the late 1980s to 2005.

But he has also insisted that he couldn't have committed the acts he's accused of because it's not the type of behaviour he would ever engage in.

"You told [the first complainant to testify] that you wanted her to be your girlfriend, right?" Crown prosecutor Neville Golwalla asked Nygard during his trial in Toronto on Wednesday.

"No I certainly did not, " Nygard said.

"And we heard from her that she wasn't particularly interested after a couple of dates. You remember those dates, right?" Golwalla asked.

"No, I do not remember those dates," Nygard said.

Golwalla then referred to the testimony of the fifth complainant to appear in court, telling Nygard that he had told her that "she would become your girlfriend, right?"

"Not right," Nygard said.

"And that you'd be having sex all night long, correct?"

"That's not correct," Nygard said.

Nygard has pleaded not guilty in Ontario's Superior Court of Justice to five counts of sexual assault and one count of forcible confinement. Justice Robert Goldstein is presiding over the Toronto jury trial, which began in late September.

The Crown contends that in the five cases — which involve women who were between age 16 and their late 20s at the time — Nygard used his power and status to lure them to his downtown Toronto office building, located at 1 Niagara St.

Last week, during questioning by his lawyer, Brian Greenspan, Nygard told the court he couldn't recall four of the five complainants but denied he committed any of the alleged assaults, saying he would never engage in such behaviour.