Former fashion mogul Peter Nygard says he did previously meet one of the complainants accusing him of sexual assault, but he denies sexually assaulting her at his company’s Toronto headquarters in the late 1990s.
The woman has previously testified that she had woken up to Nygard trying to penetrate her in his private suite in the building while other people watched.
Nygard, who has been testifying in his own defence at his trial, says that “absolutely never occurred.”
The woman has testified that she accepted a hostess job from Nygard before the alleged sexual assault.
Nygard denies that he hired her to be a hostess at a late-night party at his building at 1 Niagara St., where she said the alleged assault occurred.
Nygard, the founder of a now-defunct international women’s clothing company, is accused of using his position in the fashion industry to lure women and girls.
The 82-year-old has pleaded not guilty to five counts of sexual assault and one count of forcible confinement in alleged incidents ranging from the 1980s to mid-2000s.
Multiple complainants in the trial have alleged they were taken to Nygard’s Toronto headquarters under pretenses ranging from tours to job interviews, with encounters ending in a top-floor bedroom suite where they allege they were sexually assaulted.
Nygard testified about two of the five complainants on Thursday and said he did not recall meeting them or bringing them to his Toronto building.
He also repeatedly told the court that he would have never forced himself on someone.
Nygard previously told the jury that there was no way someone could be trapped inside his private suite because it had three exits and only one of them required a passcode since it led to his office.