DISGRACED actor Bill Cosby has been ordered to pay $19.25million to a waitress he drugged and sexually assaulted more than 50 years ago.
Donna Motsinger said the former star attacked her in a limo after picking her up from her home and plying her with booze and a pill in 1972.
A California jury found him guilty of sexual assault in a civil trial on Monday.
Cosby, 88, has denied Motsinger’s allegations against him. He did not attend court but his lawyer said he plans to appeal the verdict.
It comes five years after Cosby was released from prison in 2021, having overturned his 2018 sexual assault conviction.
Motsinger, 84, sued Cosby after California amended its laws to change limitations on when accusers can file sexual assault cases.
She filed her case against him in 2023.
Motsinger alleges the entertainer lured and groomed her for assault.
She claimed that he repeatedly attended the restaurant she worked at in Sausalito, California and invited her to one of his shows in neighbouring San Carlos.
“Defendant Cosby used his enormous wealth, power, fame, and prestige, giving women like Ms. Motsinger access to a world of celebrities and entertainers,” the complaint stated.
While they were travelling to the show Cosby gave Motsinger a glass of wine.
Soon she began to feel ill and Cosby offered her what she believed to be an aspirin, the suit alleges.
Motsinger claims she then fell in and out of consciousness.
Eventually, she woke up in her home wearing only her underwear and believed she had been raped.
Cosby’s lawyers rejected the allegation, arguing in court filings that Motsinger “freely admits that she has no idea what happened”, reports AP news agency.
The jury deliberated for three days before ruling in favour of Motsinger, awarding her more than $19million on top of punitive damages.
Speaking after the jury’s verdict, she described the trial as a five-decade-long bid for justice.
Cosby has largely disappeared from public view over the past decade amid allegations of sexual misconduct.
The comedian rose to stardom in the 1980s and 90s with his sitcom The Cosby Show.
He has since faced a string of civil and criminal cases filed by dozens of women.
He has denied all allegations against him.
