Hope Cheston was 14 when, outside a friend’s birthday party in October 2012 in Jonesboro, Ga., an armed security guard at an apartment complex raped her on a picnic table.

For years, she thought she’d be forgotten like countless other sexual assault victims.

But on Tuesday, jurors in Clayton County, Ga., awarded her $1 billion in compensatory damages in a civil lawsuit against Crime Prevention Agency Inc., the security company that employed her rapist. Her lawyers believe it is, by far, the largest jury verdict ever awarded in the United States in a sexual assault case.

“My verdict basically shows if you stick with it and do what you need to do to get your justice, there’ll be a brighter end,” Ms. Cheston, now 20, said in an interview on Wednesday.

To be sure, Ms. Cheston — who gave The Times permission to use her name — almost certainly won’t end up a billionaire. The security company isn’t worth a billion dollars, and the amount of such a verdict could still be reduced by the judge.