A rape victim in Georgia has been awarded $1 billion (£750 million) in a historic jury verdict thought to be the largest ever handed down in an American assault case, the New York Post reports.
Chris Stewart, the lawyer for victim Hope Cheston, referred to the settlement as a 'big win'.
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He said at a press conference: "It's one of the biggest victories for women in the United States."
He added: "They said a little black girl in Clayton County who was raped is worth $1 billion. That was a big win for us."
Cheston was 14 years old at the time of the attack, which took place back in October 2012. According to court documents cited by local station 11alive.com, she was heading to a friend's birthday party in an Atlanta suburb with her boyfriend when apartment security guard Brandon Lamar Zachary attacked her.
Apparently Zachary approached Cheston and told her boyfriend not to move, before raping her on a picnic table.
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Cheston, who is now 20, sued the security company that hired Zachary - Crime Prevention Agency - as it had failed to properly monitor him, even though he had a history of violent behaviour.
The lawsuit explained that the company knew about Zachary's dangerous behaviour, having acted out against guests in the past, but that it 'ignored the circumstances that any reasonable person would interpret as leading to the injury'.
The judge ruled against the company, before the jury decided on $1bn in damages on Tuesday.
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"Sexual assault is sexual assault," Cheston said at a news conference Wednesday.
"It's not right, and it needs to be punished."
Cheston added that the verdict helped validate her emotional pain.
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"For the longest (time), I thought it would be pushed under the rug and no longer mattered and that it just is what it is.
"But come to find out that 12 strangers feel like what I went through and my story and how I feel - after six years - is worth a billion dollars - that is life-changing, history-making. Just beautiful news to know," she said.
According to prison records, 28-year-old Zachary is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for statutory rape and child molestation, having been incarcerated since 2016.
"A jury, from now on, will know there is no ceiling on the damages that rape causes to a woman," Stewart told the New York Times.
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"They literally thought a billion dollars was the value of a 14-year-old being raped in public."
Featured Image Credit: 11Alive
Topics: World News, News, US News