Judge rules Bill Cosby must pay $19 million in damages for alleged sexual misconduct

A California civil hearing on Monday resulted in a woman being awarded over $19 million after alleging she was drugged and sexually assaulted by renowned US entertainer Bill Cosby.

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Donna Motsinger, the plaintiff, claimed she was working as a waitress over 50 years ago when Cosby began targeting her, an allegation that was central to the civil case decided in Santa Monica.

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According to court filings, Cosby initially met Motsinger at the restaurant where she worked, and on one occasion, he picked her up in his limousine, offering her a glass of wine and what she believed to be aspirin.

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After consuming the substances, Motsinger began experiencing bouts of consciousness, and her next recollection was waking up at home, wearing only her underwear, with the realization that she had been drugged and raped by Cosby.

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Cosby's attorneys contended that he had no memory of any sexual contact with the now-84-year-old Motsinger, but maintained that any interaction that may have occurred was consensual.

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The jury deliberated for three days before delivering a verdict that ordered Cosby, 88, to pay $19.3 million in damages, a figure that may increase with the addition of punitive damages.

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This case was heard in the same Santa Monica courthouse where, in 2022, a jury ordered Cosby to pay $500,000 in damages to Judy Huth, who alleged he molested her in 1975 at the age of 16.

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Cosby, once known as "America's Dad," was previously jailed in Pennsylvania for drugging and molesting a woman in a separate criminal case in 2018, but his conviction was overturned on a technicality in 2021, leading to his release.

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Cosby was a dominant figure in late 20th-century American popular culture, starring in the iconic television show "The Cosby Show," which aired from 1984 to 1992.

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Dozens of women have come forward accusing Cosby of being a serial predator who used sedatives and alcohol to assault his victims over the course of four decades.