Washington: In a legal setback, former US President Donald Trump has been ordered to pay $5 million in damages to a woman who accused him of rape but he does not face prison time because it was a civil case.
A jury gave the verdict on Tuesday in a civil case hinging on an attack in a fitting room in a high-end store decades ago and Trump defaming her by calling her accusations a “hoax”.
The jury did not accept her claim of rape, but declared him liable for sexual abuse and defamation.
E. Jean Carroll, 79, brought the case against the front-runner to be the Republican Party’s presidential candidate next year, Trump, who she said had raped her decades ago, but was not sure when it happened.
In a post on Truth Social media, Trump characteristically called the verdict a “continuing of the greatest witchhunt of all time” and said he would appeal.
There was a large crowd of demonstrators outside the courthouse denouncing his treatment of women when the verdict came down.