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EXCLUSIVE: April Telek is relieved Peter Nygard is behind bars - but she said the journey to uncovering the truth is far from over.
The Canadian actress is one of several accusers who are participating in a new four-part docu-series on discovery+ titled "Unseamly: The Investigation of Peter Nygard." The special explores how the Finnish fashion mogul allegedly preyed on dozens of women and teenage girls over a 25-year period.
The 79-year-old was arrested in December. He's accused of sexually abusing and trafficking women and girls after luring them with money and promises of career opportunities in the fashion industry.
More than 80 women in the Bahamas, Canada and the United States have joined a class-action lawsuit accusing Nygard and his companies of rape, sexual assault, and sex trafficking.
Fashion mogul Peter Nygard is the subject of a new shocking four-part docu-series on discovery+. (Photo by Mintaha Neslihan Eroglu/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
In response to the documentary, as well as the claims being made, Nygard's attorney told Fox News: "I can tell you that Peter Nygard vehemently denies the allegations and fully expects to be vindicated."
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But for Telek, the time has come to share her story in hopes others will be encouraged to come forward without fear.
"I hope that the women who have gone through similar, terrible experiences - horrific experiences - will hopefully feel the strength to come forward with their stories," the 45-year-old told Fox News.
"I want these women to know they’re not alone," she continued. "When we did this documentary, he wasn’t charged yet. We didn’t know if he would ever be. But there is still power in numbers."
April Telek alleged she was raped by Peter Nygard. (discovery+)
Telek, who first embarked on a modeling career as April Telek when she was 13 years old, went on to represent Canada on the international pageant circuit at age 20.
Nygard’s niece Angela Dyborn, an acquaintance, encouraged the budding starlet to speak with the designer, who was interested in her modeling his signature line. During a phone call, Nygard told Telek he wanted her to travel to Winnipeg, Canada for a meeting to discuss the modeling gig.
"Honestly, he was just a man who happened to be my girlfriend’s uncle," Telek recalled. "I knew what he did for a living. I knew he was a successful clothing designer. Up until that point, I had never been in a situation [as a model] where I felt in danger or threatened. Especially as a woman in the fashion industry, you do hear stories about that. But I was very fortunate."
"I just felt everything was going so well," Telek continued. "I had just returned from this pageant [in the Philippines], which was an incredible experience. I had just booked a big international commercial. It just felt like everything was so good."
April Telek as Miss Canada. (discovery+)
By 1993, Nygard had made millions selling women’s clothing around the world, CBC news reported. According to the outlet, the Winnipeg-based clothing manufacturer had factories in Asia, a multimillion-dollar marketing headquarters in Toronto, as well as a 15,000-square-foot Mayan-style estate in the Bahamas.
According to the documentary, Telek was told she would be staying at the Nygard Companies’ "Executive Suites" after she arrived in Winnipeg. Court documents said Dyborn drove Telek to the Nygard Companies’ Notre Dame factory to meet the designer.
"Once Angela left me there, he showed me around a bit," Telek recalled. "I was making a bit of small talk. Then I found out I wasn’t staying at the Executive Suite."
Telek alleged she was held against her will. And in the warehouse, she claimed Nygard drugged and raped her. She eventually escaped, but the alleged assault haunted her for years.
Designer Peter Nygard arrives for Norby Walters' 24nd Annual Night Of 100 Stars Oscar Viewing Gala held at Beverly Hills Hotel on March 2, 2014, in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Albert L. Ortega/Getty Images)
"I had a very hard time with the fact that we didn’t proceed with criminal charges against him right away," she admitted. "But the truth is, I was scared. I was terrified that he was going to come after me and my family."
"I had a boyfriend a couple of years later after that, and I’m not proud to say this, but there were a few occasions where I was sort of punching, hitting and screaming at him in my sleep because of my night terrors," she shared. "I was fighting against [Nygard] in my dreams."
But over the years, Telek said she refused to say silent.
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"I have never been quiet about this," she said. "I made it clear [in my career] that I would never wear a single item from any of his lines because he was a sexual predator, a rapist, the biggest terror I’ve ever had in my life. I told everybody because I didn’t want anybody else to get into that same situation."
April Telek claimed she has never been silent. (discovery+)
Nygard’s arrest on sex trafficking, racketeering and related charges came after the FBI raided his Manhattan offices last year. Nygard is also accused of using violence, intimidation, bribery and company employees to lure victims and avoid accountability.
The raid came after 10 women sued Nygard, saying he enticed young and impoverished women to his Bahamas estate. Several plaintiffs in the suit, filed in New York City, said they were 14 or 15 years old when Nygard allegedly gave them alcohol or drugs and then raped them.
Nygard’s victims claimed they would have their passports taken from them when they were flown into the Bahamas. The designer then "expected a sex act before he was willing to consider releasing any person" from his estate, the lawsuit alleges.
Telek said she became "sick to my stomach" when she heard the news.
The Manitoba Law Courts building in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, on Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2020. Canadian women's clothing designer Peter Nygard was arrested in Winnipeg on U.S. charges claiming he trafficked dozens of women and underage girls for sex over 25 years. (Daniel Crump/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
"I have a daughter who at the time was 13," she said. "And when I read that headline, I was literally sick to my stomach. I just felt immense guilt. And I knew then that I needed to back [those women] up with my own [story]. I had to come forward. There was no other choice. I felt such guilt. Because I thought, If I had come forward earlier, maybe I would have prevented a lot of these women like me from suffering the same fate or similar."
"But you have to remember, this was a different time," she continued. "This was before Harvey Weinstein and the #MeToo movement. Women did not feel safe telling their stories. There was so much shame that came with these stories. And I think that’s why it took so long. But I also do believe that his great wealth and his ability to intimidate and instilled fear in women prevented so many of us from coming forward."
Nygard has been in custody since his arrest. Attorneys for Nygard's niece did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment. A spokesman for Nygard said he was stepping down as chairman of Nygard companies and will divest his ownership interest.
Nygard has denied all allegations and blames a conspiracy caused by a feud with his billionaire neighbor in the Bahamas, the Associated Press reported.
While Telek was "overjoyed" by the news of Nygard’s arrest, the guilt hasn’t left her.
April Telek said she feels guilty for not coming forward sooner. (discovery+)
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"There’s no sense of peace knowing that I wasn't alone," she said. "I actually feel worse because I do feel shame for not coming forward with criminal charges before. Knowing that he has done this to many people makes me truly sick. It breaks my heart."
Telek alleged that Nygard couldn't have possibly acted alone for decades - and she hopes the documentary will prove that.
"This man did these things with a team of individuals who enabled him to do what he did to us," she said. "They're complicit and almost as equally guilty as he is on these horrible actions. This man didn’t do it all by himself. I think it’s important to realize that this man had people who enabled him to absolutely terrorize the women he’s victimized."
Peter Nygard during the 2005 Toronto Film Festival 'Water' premiere. (Photo by John Shearer/WireImage/Getty Images)
"Unseamly: The Investigation of Peter Nygard" is available for streaming on discovery+. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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