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London. —c has been found guilty of sexual assault at the Playboy Mansion.
The 84-year-old comedian — who was previously in jail and has been accused of sexual assault by 60 women since 2014 – was accused of forcing Judy Huth to perform an indecent act on him when she was 16 at the Playboy Mansion and has now been found guilty, according to Deadline.
The suit alleged that he brought Judy and another then-underage friend to the infamous mansion back in 1975 and noted how the alleged incident had made her feel “mad, duped and foolish.”
The former ‘Cosby Show’ star is now said to have been ordered to pay US$500 000 (about R8 million)) in damages to the now 64-year-old Judy.
The verdict comes after a two-day deliberation period from the 12-person jury, who — since the trial began at the beginning of June — had heard arguments from the alleged victim’s best friend that the attack left her in tears. Donna Samuelson told the court: “She said ‘I want to go, I wanna leave.’ She was crying. She said Bill Cosby had tried to be intimate with her.”
Meanwhile, attorneys for the comedian — who was reportedly not present for the verdict — had argued that the case was “a complete and utter fabrication” and that pictures presented in the trial as evidence were all an attempt for Judy to “cash in.”
Jennifer Bonjean, representing Cosby, said in her opening statement: “The allegations are a complete and utter fabrication.
This is about a plan hatched by Judy Huth and her estranged friend Donna Samuelson based on some photos. You will learn Judy Huth has been trying to cash in on these photos for decades.”
The verdict comes almost a year after Cosby’s 2018 criminal conviction for the 2004 sexual assault of Andrea Constand was overturned by the courts and the star was released from prison.
In explaining the reversal, the courts said: “When an unconditional charging decision is made publicly and with the intent to induce action and reliance by the defendant,” the court said, “and when the defendant does so to his detriment (and in some instances upon the advice of counsel), denying the defendant the benefit of that decision is an affront to fundamental fairness, particularly when it results in a criminal prosecution that was foregone for more than a decade.
“For these reasons, Cosby’s convictions and judgment of sentence are vacated, and he is discharged.” — IOLNews.com
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