Did Bill Cosby sexually abuse a 16-year-old girl?
Bill Cosby sexually molested a 16-year-old girl at the Playboy Mansion in 1975, jurors found Tuesday in a civil trial.
The Los Angeles County jury delivered the verdict in favor of Judy Huth, who is now 64, and awarded her $500,000.
Cosby knowingly brought harmful sexual contact with Huth, he reasonably believed she was under the age of 18, and his actions were influenced by unnatural or abnormal sexual interest in a minor, according to jurors.
The jurors’ decision is a major legal defeat for the 84-year-old entertainer once hailed as America’s dad. It comes nearly a year after his Pennsylvania criminal conviction for sexual assault was thrown out and he was freed from prison. Huth’s lawsuit was one of the last remaining legal claims against him after his insurer settled many others against his will.
Cosby did not attend the trial or testify in person, but jurors were shown short portions from a 2015 video deposition in which he denied ever having sexual contact with Huth. Through his attorney and publicist, he continues to refute the allegations.
According to hollywoodreporter.com, Jurors found that the actor intentionally caused harmful sexual contact with Huth, then 16, that he reasonably believed she was under 18, and that his conduct was driven by unnatural or abnormal sexual interest in a minor.
