Ronaldo Denies Rape Allegation As Police Reopen Investigation
Police said they had reopened an investigation into a rape accusation made by a former model who says soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo attacked her in his Las Vegas hotel penthouse suite in 2009.
Ronaldo, who now plays for Juventus in Italy’s Serie A, rejected the charges as “fake news” during a live chat on Instagram.
“What they said today, fake — fake news,” the 33-year-old star of the Portuguese national team said in a post that was later deleted.
Kathryn Mayorga, 34, of Las Vegas, accused Ronaldo, in a 32-page complaint filed last month with a district court in Nevada, of raping her on June 13, 2009.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department confirmed in a statement that didn’t name the superstar it had responded to a call of a sexual assault on that date.
“At the time the report was taken, the victim did not provide detectives with the location of the incident or suspect description. A medical exam was conducted,” it said.
“As of September 2018, the case has been reopened and our detectives are following up on information being provided by the victim.”
Mayorga alleges in the lawsuit that she was pressured into signing a nondisclosure agreement to keep the alleged rape secret and is seeking no less than $200,000 in penalties and damages.
The complaint was first reported by the German magazine Der Spiegel. Lawyers for Ronaldo have reportedly threatened to sue the magazine over the story.
In the suit, Mayorga said she met Ronaldo, who was then 24 years old, on the evening of June 12, 2009, at the Rain Nightclub in the Palms Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
It said she accepted an invitation to join Ronaldo and others in his penthouse suite to “enjoy the view of the Las Vegas strip.”
She was invited to join guests in a hot tub but she declined because she did not have a bathing suit, the complaint said.
Ronaldo offered her clothing and then followed her into a bathroom where she was going to change clothes, it said.
