Was trump found guilty of sexual assault
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Executive summary
A federal civil jury in Manhattan found Donald Trump liable for sexually abusing writer E. Jean Carroll and for defaming her, awarding Carroll $5 million in the 2023 trial; appeals courts have since upheld related damage awards including an $83.3 million penalty for later defamation [1] [2] [3]. Those rulings are civil liabilities — not criminal convictions — and jurors did not find Trump criminally “guilty” of rape; Trump has repeatedly appealed the civil verdicts up to the Supreme Court [4] [5] [6].
1. What the jury actually found — civil liability, not a criminal conviction
In May 2023 a Manhattan federal jury concluded, by the civil standards applicable in that lawsuit, that Trump sexually abused E. Jean Carroll in a department‑store dressing room in the mid‑1990s and later defamed her; the jury awarded Carroll $5 million in damages and a separate proceeding assigned $83.3 million for later defamatory statements [1] [2] [7]. Multiple reports stress the legal distinction: these were civil findings of liability (battery/sexual abuse and defamation), not criminal findings of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt [4].
2. How the courts have treated the verdict on appeal
Courts have repeatedly reviewed and, at points reported, upheld parts of the judgments: an appeals panel affirmed the $5 million civil verdict on December 30, 2024, and related appeals and challenges have been rejected by panels through mid‑2025; the larger $83.3 million defamation award was upheld by a Second Circuit panel and reported as affirmed as of September 8, 2025 [3] [8] [2]. Trump has continued to pursue appellate remedies, including asking the U.S. Supreme Court to take up the case [6] [9].
3. What jurors were asked to consider
Judge Lewis Kaplan instructed jurors on multiple forms of civil battery under New York law — including rape, sexual abuse and forcible touching — but jurors ultimately found liability for sexual abuse and defamation rather than a finding of rape; news outlets and court summaries explicitly note jurors “did not find Trump liable for rape” while finding sexual abuse occurred [7] [5].
4. Why wording matters: “found guilty” vs. “found liable”
News organizations and fact‑checks draw a sharp line between criminal guilt and civil liability. “Guilty” is a legal term tied to criminal conviction; the civil trial resulted in liability determinations under the lower preponderance or clear‑and‑convincing standards applied in civil court, not criminal proof beyond a reasonable doubt [4] [3]. Several outlets and legal summaries have explicitly corrected reporting or social posts that conflated those standards [4].
5. Evidence and contested issues reported at trial
Reporting and court summaries list the types of evidence presented: Carroll’s testimony, friends she spoke with after the alleged incident, a 1987 photograph, testimony from two other women with similar accusations, the Access Hollywood tape, and Trump’s 2022 deposition — all of which were matters of dispute and subject to legal rulings during the trial [7] [3]. Trump’s team argued some evidentiary rulings were erroneous and has urged higher courts to reverse on those bases [6] [9].
6. Ongoing litigation and political overlay
The legal battle did not end with the 2023 verdict: appeals and additional damages rulings continued through 2024–2025, and Trump has appealed up to the Supreme Court, calling the allegations “politically motivated” and asking for reversal of evidentiary rulings [6] [9]. Reporting notes the high‑profile, politicized context: the plaintiff is a public figure, the defendant is a former president and, later, a sitting president — all of which increase public attention and legal scrutiny [2] [3].
7. What available sources do not mention
Available sources do not mention any criminal indictment or criminal conviction of Trump stemming from the Carroll allegations; they likewise do not report a criminal trial result finding Trump “guilty” of sexual assault in relation to Carroll [1] [4] [5].
Bottom line: multiple courts have found Trump civilly liable for sexually abusing and defaming E. Jean Carroll and have affirmed large damages awards on appeal; those are civil judgments, not criminal convictions, and the legal fight continues through higher appeals including a petition to the U.S. Supreme Court [1] [2] [6] [4].