A jury rules that Bill Cosby molested a 16-year-old girl at the Playboy Mansion in 1975
image source, Getty Images
A jury ruled Tuesday that comedian Bill Cosby sexually assaulted a teenage girl at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles in 1975.
The victim, identified as Judy Huthtestified in a civil trial that Cosby, 84, had forced her to perform a sexual act when she was 16.
The jury also ruled that the celebrity must pay Huth, now 64, $500,000 in damages.
Less than a year ago, Cosby walked free from prison after a sexual assault conviction was thrown out.
image source, Reuters
More than 50 women have filed accusations of abuse against the man who was known as “America’s dad.” He denies the charges.
The civil case against Cosby in Santa Monica, California, was the first to go to trial and represented one of the last legal actions against him.
It began in 2014, but was delayed for years by a parallel criminal trial that the interpreter was facing.
The victim’s accusations
Huth’s lawsuit stated that Cosby brought her and another underage person to the mansion, and in a bedroom forced her to have a sexual act.
image source, Reuters
Judy Huth, who was abused by Bill Cosby at the Playboy Mansion when she was 16 years old.
Through tears, Huth told the court that she felt “angry, cheated and like a fool” after the incident, while her lawyers presented a photo of her and Cosby inside the mansion.
The comedian was not required to appear in person at the trial and never did, but the court saw a 2015 statement from Huth’s attorneys, in which Cosby claimed he did not remember her and would not have had sex with a minor. .
The defense
Cosby’s attorneys sought to disprove Huth’s claims, noting that he had initially said he was 15 at the time of the incident, but changed that detail weeks before the trial.
They also alleged that the woman had spread her photo with Cosby in the media in search of money.
image source, Getty Images
Bill Cosby became a relevant television figure with “The Bill Cosby Show.”
Jurors were shown a 2016 video statement from the late Playboy founder, Hugh Hefnera close friend of Cosby’s in the 1970s, who said it would have been “unusual” for minors to be allowed into his residence.
Known for his portrayal of Cliff Huxtable on the family series The Cosby Showthe comedian has faced accusations of sexual assault, misconduct and rape since the mid-1960s.
In 2018, was convicted of drugging and sexually abusing a woman at his home in 2004 and sentenced to between three and 10 years in prison.
However, the conviction was overturned by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court last year. He was released after serving almost three years.
image source, Getty Images
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