A United States jury has ruled that former US President Donald Trump sexually abused magazine writer E. Jean Carroll in the 1990s and then defamed her by branding her a liar.

The verdict was read out in a Manhattan federal court on Tuesday afternoon and the nine-member jury awarded Carroll about $5 million in compensatory and punitive damages.

Trump will not have to pay so long as the case is on appeal. The former president immediately rejected the verdict as a “disgrace.”

Carroll, 79, had accused Trump, 76, who is seeking re-election in 2024, of sexually assaulting her in a New York City department store in the mid-1990s.

Carroll testified last month that “Trump raped me, and when I wrote about it, he said it didn’t happen. He [Trump] shattered my reputation.”

She also alleged that Trump defamed her by dismissing her story – told in a 2019 memoir – by writing in an October 2022 post on his Truth Social platform that her claims were a “complete con job,” “a hoax” and “a lie.”

It marks the first time Trump has faced legal consequences over a series of sexual assault allegations dating back decades.

The six men and three women on the jury determined that the writer had proved sexual abuse by a preponderance of the evidence and awarded her $2 million.

The jury also ruled that Trump should pay Carroll almost $3 million for defamation.

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Trump denounced the verdict on his social media platform Truth Social.

“I have absolutely no idea who this woman is,” he wrote, using all capital letters. “This verdict is a disgrace — a continuation of the greatest witch hunt of all time.”

Several women have accused Trump of sexual misconduct. He has constantly rejected the allegations.

Trump is running for the White House again in 2024 and is seen by many as the presumptive Republican nominee.