Jurors determined that Donald Trump sexually abused a magazine writer in the 1990s and then defamed after calling her a liar.
A nine-member jury in Manhattan’s federal court convicted the former US President, 76, guilty.
After only three hours of deliberation, the jury of six men and three women reached a unanimous decision and awarded E Jean Carroll almost $5 million in compensatory and punitive damages.
The former US President responded to the verdict on his social media platform Truth Social.
Trump said: “I have absolutely no idea who this woman is.
“This verdict is a disgrace – a continuation of the greatest witch hunt of all time.”
The property-tycoon-turned-politician previously categorically denied allegations during a cable news interview, saying: “She’s not my type.”
Trump faces no criminal consequences following the verdict as the allegations brought against him were done so at a civil court.
Carroll, who first made the allegations in a memoir released in 2019, claimed Trump raped her in a Bergdorf Goodman department store dressing room in New York in 1995 or 1996.
She also testified that the former President damaged her reputation by writing her claims were a “complete con job”, a “hoax” and a “lie”.
Trump has recently faced a number of legal obstacles that could jeopardise his ambitions of becoming only the second US President to serve two non-consecutive terms in the White House.
In March, a Manhattan grand jury accused Trump for allegedly paying porn star Stormy Daniels $130,000 in hush money to cover up an affair between the two prior to the 2016 US Presidential Election.
Other investigations are underway on the 45th President, including allegations of election meddling in Georgia, his role in the January 6 riots, classified materials discovered by the FBI at his Mar-a-Lago estate, and fraud allegations from New York Attorney General Letitia James.