What is the bar for being found guilty of sexual abuse but not rape? What’s the difference?
Since this was a civil case, not a criminal case, the NY penal laws may not be directly on point, but in general, "sexual abuse" involves so-called "sexual contact" without the other party's consent - which means "any touching of the sexual or other intimate parts of a person for the purpose of gratifying sexual desire of either party. It includes the touching of the actor by the victim, as well as the touching of the victim by the actor, whether directly or through clothing, as well as the emission of ejaculate by the actor upon any part of the victim, clothed or unclothed." NY Penal Law §130.00(3); §130.55.
Rape, in general, involves "sexual intercourse" without the other party's consent - which "has its ordinary meaning and occurs upon any
penetration, however slight." NY Penal Law §130.00(1); NY Penal Law §130.25.
So, in this case, the jury's decision would appear to indicate that they believed that the evidence demonstrated that Trump touched the sexual or other intimate parts of the plaintiff for the purpose of gratifying sexual desire, but that the touching did not involve penetration of the sexual organs.
If the evidence supports that finding of fact, then the finding that Trump defamed the plaintiff would also stand, since he publicly claimed that she lied about the entire event, not just about the claim of rape.
