Toronto police charge Peter Nygard with sex assaults, forcible confinement spanning 19 years

Toronto police have issued an arrest warrant for former fashion mogul Peter Nygard for a series of sexual assaults that allegedly occurred between 1987 and 2005.

Members of Toronto's sex crimes and human trafficking team secured the warrant for the 80-year-old's arrest earlier this week. He will be charged with six counts of sexual assault and three counts of forcible confinement, according to a Friday news release.

Police allege six different historical assaults took place, stretching back to between October 1987 and November 1987, when they say a man forcibly confined and sexually assaulted a woman.

Nygard will also be charged with forcibly confining and sexually assaulting a woman between November 1988 and February 1989; sexually assaulting a woman in December 1989; forcibly confining and sexually assaulting a woman between April and September 1988; forcibly confining and sexually assaulting another woman between January 2005 and March 2005; and sexually assaulting another woman between November 2005 and March 2006.

Nygard is scheduled to appear in a Winnipeg court Friday where he is expected to give his consent to be extradited to the United States, where he is facing nine counts on sex trafficking and racketeering charges.

U.S. authorities allege there seven victims will testify in a criminal trial that their livelihood became dependent on having sex with Nygard.

He has denied all allegations.

With files from The Canadian Press

Betsy Powell is a Toronto-based reporter covering crime and courts for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @powellbetsy