What's the difference between this and what Trump did? I'm curious why this one gets prison time, but Trump didn't. If it was two decades ago when this happened, I would habe thought it was past the statue of limitations.
Criminal vs civil trial due to the statute of limitations. Trump could not be criminally charged as the crime happened too long ago. The law limiting the time was changed in 2006 but that can't be retroactively applied.
The problem is that many alleged victims of sexual assault, like Carroll, cannot avail themselves of the criminal justice system. At the time when Carroll alleges Trump raped her, the statute of limitations for rape in the state of New York was five years. In 2006, New York changed the law and abolished the statute of limitations for certain types of assault, but that change does not apply retroactively to crimes committed before 2006.
I don't understand the retroactive part. The rapes supposedly happened in 2003 in this case, which would apply the same way according to this statement. But it doesn't seem to be applied that way here.