A writer who accused former President Donald Trump of rape filed an updated complaint against him Thursday in New York following the implementation of a new state law enabling victims of sexual abuse to sue for offenses that occurred decades ago.
The Adult Survivor's Act temporarily relaxed the state's regular deadlines for suing over sexual assault, allowing E. Jean Carroll's lawyer to submit the documents electronically, per a report from AP News.
She claimed that she had suffered physical and mental trauma, loss of dignity, and damage to her character, among other things, and was seeking specific compensation and punitive damages.
The rape allegation was initially made by Carroll, a longstanding Elle magazine advice writer, in a book published in 2019. She alleged that Trump had raped her in the changing room of a high-end Manhattan department store around 1995 or 1996.
Donald Trump Dismisses Carroll's Story, Calls it a Hoax
In response to the book's claims, Donald Trump said that the incident was impossible and called it a "hoax" since Carroll was not his "type." The ex-POTUS claimed Carroll totally "made up" a narrative that he met her at the packed department store in New York City and "swooned" her right away.
Carroll retorted by suing him for defamation, alleging that he had falsely accused him of sexual misconduct; the case is currently stalled until the appeals court decides whether Trump is immune from lawsuits arising from remarks made while he was president.
In her new claims, Carroll maintains that Donald Trump committed battery "when he forcibly raped and groped her" and that he defamed her when he denied raping her.
State law had previously prevented Carroll from filing a suit related to the alleged rape because too much time had passed.
Another Chance For Justice
New York's new law allows sex-crime victims who missed deadlines to sue again. After this year, the normal time constraints for filing such lawsuits will apply again.
It's estimated that hundreds of cases will be filed, many of them by women who claim they were assaulted by coworkers, prison guards, medical professionals, or other people in the workplace or jail.
The NGO CHILD USA stated the number of cases that were filed under a New York statute that provided child victims of sexual assault with a two-year opportunity to file suit is almost 11,000, according to Forbes.
Carroll first filed a lawsuit after Donald Trump denied raping her in a statement in June 2019 and claimed that she made up the alleged rape incident to promote her upcoming book, per Reuters.
A Washington, DC, appeals court will examine whether Trump, who was in the White House at the time, acted in his official capacity as president when he first called Carroll a liar in January.
Carroll's action would be doomed if the court ruled that Donald Trump made the statements in his official role and that the United States could be replaced as a defendant since the government is immune to defamation charges.
According to Trump's attorney Michael Madaio, as per a story published by ABC News, the latest charges are materially different from the previous defamation lawsuit and will require a completely new gathering of pieces of evidence.
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