In the first civil case since Bill Cosby's criminal rape conviction was overturned, a jury found that he sexually abused a 16-year-old girl at the Playboy Mansion in the 1970s.
On Tuesday, the Los Angeles County Superior Court jury awarded Judy Huth $500,000 for emotional distress after finding that Cosby intended to cause her harm. The now 84-year-old comedian was accused of sexually abusing Huth when she was 16 years old.
The verdict came a year after Cosby was freed from prison and his criminal rape conviction was overturned after Pennsylvania's Supreme Court found that an agreement the comedian made with prosecutors in 2005 should have prevented charges from ever being filed.
The court's decision dealt a blow to the movement. The conviction of Cosby, who was accused of drugging and assault more than 60 women, made him the first major celebrity to be convicted of sexual assault.
Huth's case was the first to go to trial since he was released. The Los Angeles Times reported that Huth fought back tears as she testified about how Cosby forced her to hold his penis as he masturbated.
Huth said that he had his eyes closed at the time. I was scared.
Huth was questioned by Cosby's attorneys about why she changed her story to say that the incident happened when she was 16. According to the Times, Huth testified that the pictures of Cosby and the National Enquirer issue that featured another actor made her realize it happened in 1975.
The jury ruled in favor of Huth on seven out of nine questions they were asked to answer, finding that Cosby did not actually and reasonably believe that she was at least 18 years old at the time of the incident.
The jury didn't believe that Huth's attorneys proved that Cosby acted with "malice, oppression, or fraud" and that she didn't file a complaint until five years later.
Huth smiled as she told a reporter in the courtroom that she was vindicated.
She said it was a big step for the victims. He needs to pay for what he has done to so many women.
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