Has Donald Trump been criminally charged with sexual assault or rape?

1. Civil liability versus criminal charges: what the courts have ruled

A New York federal jury in 2023 found Trump civilly liable for sexually abusing E. Jean Carroll in the mid‑1990s and awarded her $5 million, a verdict later upheld on appeal, but that ruling was in a civil case (battery and defamation), not a criminal prosecution — civil liability uses different standards and penalties than criminal law and does not equate to a criminal charge or conviction ^{[2] [5] [4]}.

2. The specific Carroll allegations and appellate decisions

Carroll alleged Trump sexually assaulted her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in 1996; she sued for sexual assault and defamation under a state law allowing delayed civil claims, and the district court and a three‑judge appeals panel upheld the jury’s finding and the admissibility of other witnesses and a 2005 recorded conversation as evidence under federal rules permitting similar‑acts evidence in sexual‑assault civil cases ^{[6] [7] [5]}.

3. What reporters and fact‑checkers say about “rape” versus “sexual abuse” in these cases

Newsweek and other outlets emphasized that the jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse (a civil tort) on a preponderance‑of‑the‑evidence standard and did not make a criminal finding of rape; commentators and legal scholars noted that the civil verdict does not prove what a criminal jury would need to convict beyond a reasonable doubt, and the verdict could reflect the jury’s views about specific factual elements such as penetration ^[4].

4. The wider catalogue of allegations and their legal outcomes

Public compilations list dozens of women who have accused Trump of unwanted sexual conduct over decades; some alleged incidents prompted civil suits or police complaints, some cases were dismissed or resulted in no criminal charges, and his campaign and lawyers often denied the allegations, while reporting has documented varying legal outcomes for those who came forward ^{[1] [8]}.

5. Recent developments tied to damages and defamation penalties

Beyond the original $5 million verdict, later reporting records larger cumulative awards and appellate rulings upholding substantial penalties tied to defamation and sexual‑assault findings against Trump in civil litigation, including reporting of an $83.3 million penalty upheld by an appeals court for defamation related to Carroll, underscoring the civil legal exposure even in the absence of criminal charges ^{[9] [5]}.

6. Why no criminal charge is the crucial distinction

Criminal charges require prosecutors to file formal indictments or informations and to meet a higher burden of proof at trial; the sources provided show civil judgments and appeals in cases alleging sexual abuse but do not document any criminal indictment or conviction of Donald Trump for rape or sexual assault — that factual gap matters legally and rhetorically ^{[2] [4] [5]}.

7. Limits of the record and alternative perspectives

The available reporting clearly documents many allegations and civil judgments, and journalists and legal scholars offer competing interpretations about what those civil findings mean for the truth of alleged conduct and potential criminal liability; the sources do not exhaustively map every complaint or law‑enforcement inquiry nationwide, so reporting cannot assert there were never any criminal investigations beyond what the cited sources show ^{[1] [8] [4]}.