Actor Bill Cosby was found guilty of sexually assaulting a minor at the Playboy Mansion over fifty years ago by a jury in California on Tuesday.
When a jury in Santa Monica found that Cosby had raped Judy Huth in 1975 when she was only 16 years old, she was given a damages judgment of US$500,000. Judy Huth is now 64 years old.
One of the few ongoing judicial proceedings against Cosby, 84, who has been accused of assault by numerous women, is the case at hand.
More than 50 women have accused Cosby of sexual assault since 2005. Cosby spent just under three years in a Pennsylvania state jail after being found guilty of assaulting Andrea Constand in Philadelphia. His conviction was later overturned on appeal. In September 2021, he was allowed to leave prison.
Huth testified that the then-beloved comedian had brought her and a companion to the home when she was 16 and he was 37, where the assault transpired.
He was imprisoned in Pennsylvania in 2018 for a different crime, but was released the following year after his conviction was overturned on a technicality.
Lawyers said that during a two-week civil trial that Cosby was not present for, the former "America's Dad" escorted Huth and her friend Donna Samuelson, who was then 17, to the estate after meeting them on a set.
Cosby denied any wrongdoing, and his attorneys emphasized the apparent inconsistencies in Hutch's account, including the fact that both teenagers may have stayed at the mansion for up to 12 hours after the alleged attack.
They also stated that Huth changed her story from initially claiming the assault occurred when she was 15 years old in 1974 to the following year.
Since the statute of limitations had already run by the time Huth spoke to authorities, the matter was never criminally prosecuted.
Attorneys for Cosby said during a two-week civil trial that he escorted Huth and her companion Donna Samuelson, who was then 17 years old, to Hugh Hefner's residence after meeting them on a set.
The actor allegedly started kissing and Cosby attempted to put his hands inside her clothing when they were both alone.
They were informed of the alleged incident in which he allegedly pulled down his own pants and made her perform an act of sex on him.
According to Huth's attorney Nathan Goldberg, she had suppressed her memories of the assault for many years, but they finally surfaced for her when other women started accusing him of abusing them.
This is the first civil case in which a Cosby accuser has gone to trial.
