The Tribune

Peter Nygard is guilty.

The long-time resident of the Lyford Cay property in western New Providence had his day in court – and the jury found him guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty.

He was convicted of four charges of sex assault at his Toronto court hearing. Two other charges – another sex assault and a charge of forcibly confining a woman in his private suite – he was acquitted of.

Nygard was accused repeatedly by women with similar stories.

They would meet Nygard, who made his riches with his fashion company, on a plane, or on the airport tarmac, perhaps at a nightclub – and he would invite them to come to his headquarters.

All five women in the court case said their meetings ended with sexual activity against their consent.

Some talked of feeling trapped in his suite, which had doors that could only be opened with a keypad code or by pushing a button near the bed. One woman said she was just 16 when she was sexually assaulted – and that another woman gave her a contraceptive pill on her way out.

Nygard gave his own testimony in his defence, saying he didn’t remember meeting four of the women. The jury believed the women.

Outside court, Nygard’s son, Kai Zen Bickle, told the media he had watched his father on the stand, and the last time he had seen his father was at a dinner in 2019 when he saw him inappropriately touch a child.

He said he spoke up but was attacked internally in the company, and told he was crazy.

What is telling from all of this is that Mr Nygard had a support network around him that enabled him to abuse and assault his victims.

We have heard the allegations about Mr Nygard’s activities in The Bahamas, and there are further court cases ahead which will doubtless have further revelations.

But think about what kind of situation there is where someone else hands out contraceptives after an assault – how often must that have happened for the contraceptives to be so ready to hand? Think about what happens when accusations are made by Mr Nygard’s own son and the company turns against him.

Here in The Bahamas, Nygard held “pamper parties” where it is claimed women and underage girls were drugged and raped.

There are allegations that local politicians and senior police officers received money to help conceal the alleged offences. Some of those claims have been reported in The Tribune, some have been reported on international television. A civil lawsuit was filed in New York claiming a number of senior police officers were on Nygard’s payroll and frequented Nygard Cay.

Nygard posted an infamous video after the PLP victory that saw Perry Christie win office titled “Take back The Bahamas” and PLP ministers were seen at his Nygard Cay home, shaking hands and being introduced as ministers.

This is the end of one Nygard court case, but it is not the end of his story.

For The Bahamas, we now know, determined in court, that Nygard is a serial sex offender.

Back in 2021, the police were supposed to be investigating sex crime allegations against Nygard here in The Bahamas. What has become of that?

The Toronto court has heard about the support structure around Nygard that allowed him to commit his crimes there – what about here?

Nygard was a predator, and those who enabled him deserve to be called to account.

For the women who became his victims, they deserve justice. For the Bahamians who have yet to have their voices heard, they deserve to be listened to. Why can a Toronto court provide justice but a Bahamian justice system offer none? And, worse, if a predator like Nygard can be protected, what else is being enabled that has not been uncovered?

Toronto has charged him and found him guilty. Cases are to come in Quebec and Manitoba. Then there are charges in the US, for which he will be extradited from Canada after the cases there are resolved. Accusation after accusation – do we really believe nothing at all happened here that requires our courts to bring justice?

Even now, are there still those who would protect Nygard? Will those that curried favour with him in the past now come out and condemn him? Watch for those who remain silent. Watch, and ask why they dare not speak out even now.