Former US President Donald Trump has been found guilty of sexually assaulting and defaming writer E Jean Carroll by a civil jury in New York.

However, the same jury acquitted Trump of the charge of rape in connection with the same incident that occurred in a Manhattan store in the 1990s. As a result of the battery and defamation charges, the jury ordered Trump to pay nearly $5 million in damages to the writer.

This is a historic event as it marks the first time that a US president has been held accountable for sexual assault.