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Former model accuses Ronaldo of rape, football star calls it ‘fake news’
LOS ANGELES, Oct 1, 2018 (bss/AFP) – Cristiano Ronaldo is facing
allegations of rape by a former model who accuses the Portuguese superstar of
attacking 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.
Mayorga alleges in the lawsuit that she was pressured into signing a
nondisclosure agreement to keep the alleged rape secret and is seeking
$200,000 in penalties and damages.
The complaint was first reported by the German magazine Der Spiegel.
In the suit, Mayorga said she met Ronaldo 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.
After she refused his demand to perform oral sex and said she wanted to
leave, Ronaldo pulled her into a bedroom and anally raped her while she
screamed “no, no, no,” the complaint said.
“When Cristiano Ronaldo completed the sexual assault of the plaintiff, he
allowed her to leave the bedroom stating he was sorry, he was usually a
gentleman,” it said.
The lawsuit said Mayorga reported the alleged assault to the Las Vegas
police the same day and underwent an examination at a local hospital.
It said the assault had left her with “severe emotional and bodily
injuries” and “major depression.”
Under pressure from Ronaldo’s “fixers,” Mayorga settled the case “in
exchange for a payment of $375,000 and non-disclosure of the sexual assault,”
the lawsuit said.
The unidentified “fixers” were also named as co-defendants in the lawsuit,
which accuses the Juventus forward of violating the nondisclosure agreement.
BSS/AFP/MRI/2341 hrs