As per reports, after a month-long civil trial, the jury found Bill Cosby guilty of sexually abusing a 16-year-old minor in 1975 which purportedly happened at the Playboy Mansion.
On Tuesday, In a civil case, an all-California jury found Bill Cosby guilty of sexually assaulting a woman, then a 16-year-old girl at the Playboy Mansion in 1975 and directed Cosby to pay $500,000 in damages to the woman for causing her considerable emotional and mental distress from the unfortunate incident. According to the official sources, this was the first civil case faced by the comedian.
The victim provided her statements which stated that the once famed comedian invited her and her friends to the Playboy Mansion. The victim was aged 16 then, Bill Cosby was 37 and he abused her sexually. This verdict arrived after Bill Cosby was released from prison as Pennsylvania’s highest court discharged his assault conviction for a different criminal case there. The victim then lodged the case with the help of a California law that allows abused people sexually abused as children to file civil cases against their perpetrators, years later as adults.
A beloved comedian and a devoted family man, Bill Cosby made his name through the television comedy series ‘The Cosby Show’ which earned him the nickname of ‘America’s Dad’. His family-friendly image was shattered after he was accused by more than 50 women of sexual assaults for over five decades now.
The woman stated that she was happy with the ruling in the civil case that she filed in the year 2014 after she came across many detailed reports of sexual assaults against him. These reports triggered her and worsened her anxiety.
The victim and her friends were invited by Cosby after they met at a public park. After coming out of a washroom, Cosby used her hand to indulge in a sexual act.
Cosby was not present during the trial but denied any accusation against him. His spokesperson Andrew Wyatt said, that Cosby’s defense team will appeal the verdict in the court.
The verdict given by the jury was not entirely in the woman’s favor. With 9-3 votes, it was stated that she was unable to provide any clear and succinct evidence that Cosby acted out of “malice, oppression or fraud.”
