US jury finds Donald Trump sexually abused writer E. Jean Carroll, awards her US$5 million in damages
- Former US president was found liable for battery and defamation in a civil case verdict he called a ‘disgrace’
- It marks the first time Trump has faced legal consequences over sexual assault allegations dating back decades
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US jury finds Donald Trump liable in abuse and defamation case involving writer E. Jean Carroll
Donald Trump must pay US$5 million in damages for sexually abusing magazine writer E. Jean Carroll in the 1990s and then defaming her by branding her a liar, a jury decided on Tuesday.
“Today, the world finally knows the truth,” Carroll said in a statement. “This victory is not just for me but for every woman who has suffered because she was not believed.”
The former US president, campaigning to retake the White House in 2024, will appeal, his lawyer Joseph Tacopina told reporters outside the Manhattan federal courthouse.
Carroll, 79, testified during the civil trial that Trump, 76, raped her in a Bergdorf Goodman department store dressing room in Manhattan in either 1995 or 1996, then harmed her reputation by writing in an October 2022 post on his Truth Social platform that her claims were a “complete con job,” “a hoax” and “a lie”.
Trump was absent throughout the trial which began on April 25. In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump called the verdict a “disgrace” and said, “I have absolutely no idea who this woman is”.