What civil cases related to sexual assault has Donald Trump faced and what were their outcomes?
Executive summary
Donald Trump has been the defendant in multiple civil actions tied to sexual-assault allegations, the most consequential of which were brought by writer E. Jean Carroll and resulted in multi‑million dollar judgments that courts have largely upheld on appeal [1] [2] [3]. Other civil claims have been filed and dismissed or withdrawn, and reporting underscores the legal distinction between civil liability and criminal guilt [4] [5].
1. The Carroll lawsuits: two related suits, two verdicts, large damages
E. Jean Carroll filed two related civil suits against Donald Trump: an initial defamation suit after she publicly accused him of assault in 2019 and a second action in 2022 that invoked New York’s Adult Survivors Act to add a battery claim for the alleged mid‑1990s assault [6] [7]. In April–May 2023 a Manhattan jury found Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll in a department‑store dressing room and for defaming her, awarding her $5 million; the verdict did not find criminal guilt but civil liability under the lower civil standard of proof [1] [8] [5]. Trump appealed, arguing among other points that the trial court erred in admitting evidence of other alleged incidents, but the Second Circuit affirmed the $5 million award in December 2024 [3] [9].
2. Additional penalties and the combined tally cited in reporting
Beyond the $5 million judgment for sexual abuse and defamation, later proceedings produced substantial additional awards tied to Carroll’s claims: reporting and case summaries cite combined damages in the tens of millions — commonly reported as roughly $83.3 million for defamation that an appeals court later affirmed and a combined total figure of about $88.3 million across Carroll’s actions, figures reflected in summaries of the litigation [6] [10]. Some outlets emphasize that parts of those awards were upheld on appeal and that aspects of the litigation remain the subject of ongoing appellate litigation in the mid‑2020s [2] [10].
3. Legal mechanics that made Carroll’s battery claim possible
Carroll’s battery claim was revived by New York’s Adult Survivors Act, which temporarily tolled statutes of limitations for certain sexual‑assault claims and allowed older allegations to be litigated civilly despite traditional time bars; the law’s window was central to bringing the battery claim she pursued in 2022–2023 [7]. That procedural backdrop is often overlooked in public discussion, but it explains why a decades‑old allegation could be adjudicated in a modern civil forum [7].
4. Other civil filings and dismissed claims
Reporting shows at least one other early civil filing alleging sexual assault involving Trump and Jeffrey Epstein by a woman using the pseudonym “Katie Johnson” (later “Jane Doe”); that 2016 suit was dismissed in California and a subsequent New York filing was also eventually withdrawn or dismissed, illustrating that not all civil allegations against Trump advanced to verdicts [4]. Numerous other women have made public accusations and some pursued civil or administrative complaints, but the supplied reporting does not document additional civil verdicts comparable to Carroll’s [11].
5. Competing narratives, appeals and what the rulings mean
Trump has consistently denied Carroll’s allegations and called the litigation meritless; his lawyers raised evidentiary and procedural objections on appeal, including contesting the admission of testimony about other alleged conduct and the Access Hollywood tape, but appellate courts in the cited rulings rejected those claims and affirmed the damages awards [3] [9]. Legal analysts and outlets emphasize the boundary between civil liability and criminal conviction — juries in civil trials determine liability by a preponderance (or, for some defamation claims, higher civil standards), not criminal guilt beyond a reasonable doubt — a distinction explicitly highlighted in coverage [5] [12].
6. Reporting limitations and the record going forward
The available sources here are concentrated on E. Jean Carroll’s litigation and a small number of other filings; they do not provide a comprehensive catalog of every civil claim ever filed against Trump alleging sexual misconduct, nor do they report final outcomes for many accusations contained in broader timelines [4] [11]. Where appeals remain pending or additional awards were reported in different outlets, follow‑up coverage and court dockets should be consulted for the most current posture of each case [2] [10].