Civil trial jurors rule in favor of Judy Huth who accused comedian of forcing her to perform a sex act in 1975 when she was 16

Bill Cosby sexually abused a 16-year-old girl at the Playboy Mansion in 1975, jurors determined on Tuesday after a nearly month-long civil trial.

Jurors in Los Angeles county ruled in favor of Judy Huth, who is now 64, awarding her $500,000 in a legal defeat for the once-beloved comedian and star of The Cosby Show.

Jurors found that Cosby intentionally caused harmful sexual contact with Huth, whom he reasonably believed was under 18, and that his conduct was driven by unnatural or abnormal sexual interest in a minor. The decision brings to a close one of the final remaining legal claims against 84-year-old Cosby, whom more than 50 women have accused of sexual assault over nearly five decades.

In court filings and in testimony at the trial, Huth said she and a friend met Cosby at a park, and that the actor later took her and her friend to the Playboy Mansion. She testified that Cosby, who was 37 at the time, assaulted her, forcing her to perform a sex act without her consent, a claim the actor has denied.

Huth, who first filed a lawsuit against Cosby in 2014, initially said the incident took place in 1974 when she was 15, but later concluded she was mistaken about the year and that it happened in 1975.

Cosby, who did not appear in person at the trial, denied the allegation. In video of a deposition shown to jurors, Cosby said he did not remember Huth. But he said the incident could not have happened because he would not have pursued sexual contact at that time with someone who was under age 18.

Jennifer Bonjean, Cosby’s attorney, challenged Huth’s account throughout the trial, calling her revised timeline “trial by ambush”.

Cosby’s spokesperson, Andrew Wyatt, said the actor’s team plans to appeal the jury’s decision, but described it as a win for the actor, noting that it was far less than the $8m Huth’s attorney, Gloria Allred, sought.

“This is a huge victory and the Cosbys are so happy with the representation of Jennifer Bonjean,” Wyatt said. “Allred was trying to get $8m. They did not get punitive damages. That is a huge win.”

Allred, Huth’s lawyer, thanked the jury for its verdict and praised her client for her “courage and many sacrifices to win justice in this case”.

“We are honored to represent her,” she said. “I want to thank all of the women who spoke out over the years, and refused to be silent in the face of what they believed to be injustice and sexual abuse by powerful men … We are proud of Ms Huth and our victory against Bill Cosby.”

The trial took place nearly a year after the actor was freed from prison in Pennsylvania, when his conviction on charges of drugging and sexually assaulting another woman were overturned. The state’s supreme court overturned Cosby’s conviction on a legal technicality last year and released him just two years into his sentence, dealing a painful blow to his accusers.

Rainn, an anti-sexual violence non-profit, praised the Los Angeles jury’s decision.

“Once again, a jury has found that Bill Cosby committed sexual assault. Ms Huth’s courageous testimony helped the jury reach this decision and we commend her for her bravery. Today’s verdict shows survivors that perpetrators, even powerful ones, can be held accountable,” said Erinn Robinson, a Rainn spokesperson.