Civil trial jurors find Bill Cosby sexually abused a 16-year-old at the Playboy Mansion in 1975

Civil trial jurors have found that Bill Cosby sexually abused a 16-year-old girl at the Playboy Mansion in 1975. 

The Los Angeles County jury delivered the verdict Tuesday in favor of Judy Huth, who is now 64, and awarded her $500,000. 

The jury's decision is a major legal defeat for the 84-year-old Cosby. It comes nearly a year after his Pennsylvania criminal conviction for sexual assault was thrown out and he was freed from prison. Cosby did not attend the Los Angeles trial. He has repeatedly denied Huth's allegations that he forced her to perform a sex act at the mansion.  

"She will not be getting a dime," said Andrew Wyatt, Bill Cosby's publicist. "What happened today wasn't a victory - they didn't get the punitive damages. The victory was ours because we got to disclose and show what this woman was all about, There was no win here."

Huth was supported by other Cosby accusers Tuesday, each of whom have their own story to tell.   

"Bill Cosby, though his conviction was overturned, you cannot change the fact that jury of his peers, after listening to all the evidence, all the witnesses, found him guilty of sexual assault," said Lili Bernard, a Cosby accuser. 

The jury deliberated for roughly four days, announcing late Friday they had reached a partial verdict on all but one issue -- relating to the issue of punitive damages against Cosby. But before Superior court Judge Craig Karlan could even read a partial verdict in the trial, he instead had to dismiss the jury for the weekend because of a hard closure time for the Santa Monica Courthouse.

As a result, the jury had to come back Monday and begin its deliberations anew with one alternate member, because Karlan had earlier agreed to allow one juror to be dismissed after Friday due to a prior commitment.

With the alternate juror in place, the jury began deliberating again, failing to reach a verdict on Monday, then hearing brief arguments from attorneys Tuesday morning on legal issues apparently relating to the same problematic question regarding the issue of punitive damages.

On Tuesday afternoon, the jury indicated it was having trouble reaching a verdict on the punitive damages question, but after being sent back for further discussions, it announced a short time later that it had reached a decision.

During the nearly two-week trial, attorneys for Huth said Cosby -- who is now 84 and legally blind -- assaulting her in a game room at the mansion. Attorneys said Cosby escorted Huth and her then-17-year-old friend, Donna Samuelson, to the mansion after he met them while in the area to film the movie "Let's Do It Again" with Jimmie Walker and Sidney Poitier.

The case was the first sex-abuse civil trial against Cosby to reach a jury. Cosby did not attend any of the Santa Monica trial.