New York (CNN) — Leonard Posner, whose 6-year-old son Noah was killed in the 2012 sandy hook massacre, has been awarded $ 450,000 in damages by a Wisconsin jury from a defamation lawsuit filed in response to conspiracy theorists claiming the Newtown tragedy never happened.

James Fetzer and Mike Palask, co-authors of a 2016 book titled “No one died at sandy hook,” said the shooting that killed 26 people, including 20 children, was a staged political scheme, not the tragic massacre that claimed many lives on December 14, 2012 in Newtown, Connecticut.

The book falsely States that Posner fabricated the death certificate of his son Noah. The authors also argued that Noah was not a real person, and, alternatively, that he was not Posner’s son, according to the complaint.

Judge Frank D. Remington of the Wisconsin district court ruled in June that Fetzer’s statements were defamatory, and the case went to trial to determine damages. The jury’s decision was made Tuesday, Dane County court officials told CNN.

“Now I had to defend my son’s existence against these deceivers for longer than he was alive,” Posner told CNN Wednesday.

“For years I have tried to use the legal system to get cheaters like Mr. Fetzer to stop attacking me and terrorizing my family.”

Posner is hopeful that the decision in his case helps others to take legal action against the conspiracy theorists who seek to spread lies.

“Today, I believe that the hesitation ends and countless other victims of Mr. Fetzer and other conspiracy theorists like him, who use the Internet to harass and slander, will now be able to pursue lawsuits against their abusers,” he said.

“It was a classic slapp suit brilliantly executed narrowly focusing on a conclusion for which we have acquired tremendous evidentiary support,” Fetzer told CNN when reached for comment.

Despite court rulings and the issuance of an official death certificate from the Connecticut Department of public health, Vital Records Division, Fetzer claims that the tragedy was an Obama-administration “drill where no children died to promote gun control.”

Palacek and the parent company of book publisher Wrongs Without Remedies LLC settled with Posner and their cases were dismissed.

Fetzner is solely responsible for the payment of the awarded by to Posner.

CNN could not reach Palacek for comment.

A post-trial status conference is scheduled for Monday. Fetzner said he would appeal the case in full.

CNN’s Julian Cummings contributed to this report.