Bill Cosby found guilty of sexually abusing 16-year-old Judy Huth in 1975

A civil jury found that comedianactor Bill Cosby sexually abused Judy Huth in 1975 when she was a 16yearold ordering him to pay 500000The verdict was in Huths favour which her attorney Gloria Allred hailed as a win toward real change although no punitive compensation was awarded reports VarietyHuth now 64 accused Cosby of luring her and a friend to the mansion a few days after meeting them in a parkI was elated Huth said outside the courthouse reacting to the verdict and telling reporters that she is grateful for the jury Its been so many years so many tears its just a long time comingAllred praised Huth speaking to reporters outside of the courthouseThe late United States Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg once said Real change enduring change happens one step at a time Allred statedToday our client won real change because she fought Bill Cosby one step at a time for over sevenandahalf years She proved with the jurys verdict that Mr Cosby did sexually assault her when she was a minor and that he should be held and was held accountable for what he did to herAllred noted that the case marks the first to go to trial under the Child Victims Act which protects adult survivors of child sex abuse to come forward and hold their abuser accountable years laterShe or he may come forward years later and they will have a right to do so the attorney and womens rights activist said outside courtCosbys team appeared to be pleased with the outcome When the verdict was read with no punitive damages found Cosbys spokesperson Andrew Wyatt smiled in the gallery and his lawyers were gleeful as they exited the courtroomIn a statement issued to the media following the verdict Cosbys spokesperson said in part We have always maintained that Judy Huth Gloria Allred and their cohorts fabricated these false accusations in order to force Mr Cosby to finance their racist mission against successful and accomplished Black Men in AmericaThe statement continued Mr Cosby continues to maintain his innocence and will vigorously fight these false accusations so that he can get back to bringing the pursuit of happiness joy and laughter to the worldThe jury found that Cosby did intend to cause a harmful or offensive contact with Huth and that sexually offensive contact resulted while also finding that Hugh was harmed by Cosbys conductThe jury concluded that any normal person without hesitation would have been disturbed irritated offended or injured by Cosbys conduct Nine jurors voted that they agreed that Cosbys conduct was motivated by an unnatural or abnormal sexual interest in a minor while three jurors did not agreeThe trial centred on the testimony of Huth and her friend Donna Samuelson as well as two other women who alleged that Cosby had also sexually assaulted them in 1975The verdict came down after nearly three days of deliberations and the jury having to restart those deliberations from scratch when a juror was excused from the case due to a scheduling conflictThe jury repeatedly asked questions and was stuck on whether the case rose to the level of triggering punitive damages Amid that process Huths team suggested a partial verdict while Cosbys team asked for a mistrial marking their third separate request for a mistrial all of which were denied by Judge Craig KarlanLast Friday the jury nearly reached a verdict but had to start all over with their deliberations on Monday morning when the foreperson was excused from the case and replaced with an alternateThe foreperson had said on Friday that the jurors had reached agreement on eight of the nine questions they were asked to decide Judge Karlan initially said he would take a partial verdict on Friday afternoon but changed his mind when a sheriffs deputy informed him that the courthouse would close within a few minutesOn Monday Judge Karlan informed both sides that he put much thought into his decision and instructed the jury to disregard their deliberations from the week prior and start all over againThe jury had trouble reaching an agreement over the question on the special verdict form asking whether Cosby acted with malice oppression or fraud which would trigger punitive damagesIn his statement sent to the media Cosbys spokesperson suggested that he was unhappy with the judges decision to ask the jury to continue deliberating stating that the jury sent a note earlier in the day explaining that they are seemingly deadlocked and wished to return the verdict with a consensus on the one question regarding punitive damagesAccording to Variety earlier on Tuesday morning the judge had both sides reargue the one point of confusion for the jury It is highly unusual for arguments to continue amid deliberationsCosbys attorney Jennifer Bonjean urged the jury to focus on just what Cosby may have done to Huth and not consider outside opinions or allegationsBonjean also raised questions regarding the timeline of events and told the jury that a common theme of Huths testimony was that she was angry but not distressed to the point where it impacted her daytoday lifeForty years later she starts experiencing distress said BonjeanIt shouldnt take you 40 years to realise that something was so reprehensible as the plaintiff saysEarlier in the trial Huth testified that she and her friend felt like they were on an adventure when Cosby invited them to the mansion But she got scared when Cosby had her sit next to him on a bedIt was not what I wanted at all she told the jury I was freaking outCosby 84 exercised his Fifth Amendment right not to testify and did not attend this trial Instead jurors saw clips from his videotaped deposition in which he said he would never pursue a minor for sex Jurors also saw excerpts of a deposition of Hugh Hefner taken before his death in 2017Huth filed her lawsuit in December 2014 as many other women were coming forward with allegations against Cosby The suit was postponed for several years while Cosby faced two criminal trials for sexual assault in PennsylvaniaCosbys criminal conviction was overturned last year and he was freed after serving nearly three years in state prisonThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever