A New York jury found former US president Donald Trump guilty of sexually abusing advice columnist E Jean Carroll in a changing room of a New York department store 27 years ago.

However, since the verdict is the result of a civil and not a criminal case, the only legal penalty Trump will face is financial.

The jury deliberated for less than three hours and did not find Trump guilty of raping Carroll, but did find him liable for battery.

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The jury awarded Carroll about $5m in compensatory and punitive damages. Before the verdict, the judge warned those in the courtroom not to shout, jump up and down or race for the door.

Although Trump is currently leading polls for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, the verdict adds to his legal woes.

Last month, he pled not guilty to 34 criminal charges of falsifying business records over the payment of hush money to the porn star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 election.

He is also likely to face criminal charges over his attempts to falsify the result of the 2020 election in Georgia.

Moreover, Trump is the target of a federal investigation into his actions during the 2020 election and its aftermath, including the attack on the US Capitol and the stashing of secret documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate.

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He is also fighting a civil lawsuit in New York state over his business and tax affairs.

During the trial, the jury of three women and six men was persuaded by Carroll’s confident testimony describing the sexual assault in the changing room.

Trump’s lawyer, Joe Tacopina, failed to disprove Carroll’s allegations or show that she had conspired with friends to falsely accuse Trump.

Carroll testified that the attack left her unable to have a romantic relationship and that Trump “shattered my reputation” by denying the attack when she went public in 2019.

Carroll described how she met Trump in the Bergdorf Goodman luxury department store in spring 1996, and he asked her to help him choose a gift.

They ended up in the lingerie department, where Trump suggested they both try on a bodysuit and motioned towards the dressing room.

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Carroll said she did not take him seriously, thinking it was a joke. However, once in the dressing room, Trump shoved her against the wall and raped her.

Carroll said she found it impossible to smile at a man she was attracted to after the rape, and it marked the end of her sex life.

Tacopina challenged Carroll during nearly two days of cross-examination, but Carroll gave confident and credible explanations for her actions.

She said that her inability to give a single reason for not screaming was not evidence that she was lying.

Carroll said that she was too “ashamed” of having been assaulted to go to the police, even if that’s the advice she gave in her Elle agony aunt column.