Will Trump have to register as a sex offender after $5m E Jean Carroll verdict?

New York jury finds former president liable for abuse and defamation

A jury in New York has found former president Donald Trump liable for sexually abusing Elle magazine columnist E Jean Carroll and for then defaming her when he denied the allegations against him.

Ms Carroll, 79, sued Mr Trump, 76, for attacking her in a dressing room of the luxury Bergdorf Goodman department store in Manhattan in the spring of 1996 and then “destroying” her reputation when he claimed she was lying.

Lawyers for both sides presented more than four hours of closing arguments on Monday, with Ms Carroll’s attorney Roberta Kaplan insisting her client’s testimony was “credible, it was consistent and it was powerful” and arguing that “every single aspect of what she said is backed up or corroborated by other evidence”.

Ms Carroll’s team argued that the testimony of two other women who have accused Mr Trump of sexual assault – Jessica Leeds and Natasha Stoynoff – coupled with his notorious remarks from the 2005 Access Hollywood tape, showed a pattern of behaviour towards women that was consistent with Ms Carroll’s account.

But Joe Tacopina, a lawyer representing Mr Trump, sought to rubbish that narrative and argued that Ms Carroll being unable to give a precise date when the alleged attack took place suggested she was not a trustworthy witness. He also pointed to her decision not to report it to the police at the time.

“She has abused this system by bringing a false claim for, amongst other things, money, status, political reasons,” he said.

But, on Tuesday, the nine-person panel took just three hours of deliberations before returning their verdict, finding that Mr Trump did sexually abuse Ms Carroll.

The jury awarded the writer a total of $5m in damages.

“I filed this lawsuit against Donald Trump to clear my name and to get my life back,” a triumphant Ms Carroll said in a statement afterwards.

E Jean Carroll leaves court on Tuesday (AP)

“Today, the world finally knows the truth. This victory is not just for me but for every woman who has suffered because she was not believed.”

For his part, Mr Trump took to his Truth Social platform to denounce the decision in a series of videos in which he also vowed to appeal the verdict.

“The whole thing is a scam,” he said. “We’ll be appealing this decision. It’s a disgrace. I don’t even know who this woman is. I have no idea who she is, where she came from.”

But, despite his protests, the outcome raises the question.

Will Mr Trump have to register as a sex offender?

The outcome is, without question, a major blow to Mr Trump’s bid to seek the Republican presidential nomination again in 2024 but he will not face any jail time or have to register as a sex offender.

According to the New York Division of Criminal Justice Services, anyone convicted of a sex offence or sentenced to probation or jail time in a local or state prison must register upon returning to the community.

However, this was a civil case, not a criminal one, and so Mr Trump was only found “liable” for the assault rather than being found “guilty” and convicted of a crime.

The deposed president does have several other legal problems swirling around him at present, any one of which has the potential to derail his ambitions of returning to the White House.

He was indicted by a New York grand jury over the alleged falsification of business records to conceal hush money payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016.

And he also features in at least three other investigations concerning 2020 election meddling in the crucial swing state of Georgia, his handling of classified documents post-presidency and his role in the Capitol riot of 6 January 2021.