A Manhattan federal jury found that Donald Trump sexually abused E. Jean Carroll in a luxury department store dressing room in the spring of 1996 and awarded her $5 million for battery and defamation.
The only reason he wasn't found liable for rape is because he only penetrated her with his fingers rather than his penis. And in New York (until this year) to be considered rape penetration had to occur with the penis.
So in New York, the only people who could be found guilty of rape (according to New York law) were men. Everything else was sexual abuse.
In New York “sexual assault” is a general term to describe any of several sex crimes that involve the nonconsensual touching or contact of sexual nature. Criminal offenses that are types of sexual assault include rape, criminal sexual act, sexual abuse, and predatory sexual assault.
So he was, in fact, found legally liable for an act of sexual assault by a court of law.
And if the case were tried again, he would be found liable for rape. As New York just changed their law to be more in line with most of the rest of the country.