The Portuguese star has rejected Kathryn Mayorga’s version of events at a Las Vegas hotel in 2009.
CRISTIANO RONALDO has categorically denied accusations by a former model who says the Portuguese superstar raped her in a Las Vegas hotel penthouse suite in 2009.
“I firmly deny the accusations being issued against me,” tweeted the 33-year-old.
“Rape is an abominable crime that goes against everything that I am and believe in,” said the 33-year-old Juventus forward.
“Keen as I may be to clear my name I refuse to feed the media spectacle created by people seeking to promote themselves at my expense,” Ronaldo said.
“My clear conscience will thereby allow me to wait with tranquility the results of any and all investigations,” he added on his Twitter feed @Cristiano, which has nearly 75 million followers.
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.
Las Vegas police this week said they were reopening a case filed on that date but did not identify the victim or the alleged perpetrator by name.
Mayorga’s lawyers are to hold a news conference in Las Vegas later on Wednesday to discuss the case.
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.”
Trending: What are the claims against Cristiano Ronaldo?
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,” according to the suit.
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 police the same day and was examined at a local hospital. It said the assault left her with “severe emotional and bodily injuries including but not limited to anal contusions, posttraumatic stress disorder, 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.
It claimed the agreement should be voided because she was “incompetent and lacked the mental capacity to participate in negotiations and settlement of her claims due to the injuries suffered during the initial sexual assault.”
In an interview with Der Spiegel, Mayorga said she was inspired to come forward in part by the #MeToo movement that has exposed the sexual abuse of women by powerful men.
What happened at the Las Vegas hotel?
Paparazzi pictures showed the pair chatting before he invited her and a friend to his penthouse suite — room 57306 at the Palms — “to enjoy the view of the Las Vegas Strip”.
The luxurious suite featured a jacuzzi on the balcony.
Ms. Mayorga claims she refused to get into the hot tub because she did not want to ruin her dress.
She said Ronaldo offered her some clothes to wear and told her to change in a bathroom.
The court papers claim that while she was changing, Ronaldo walked in, exposed himself, and asked her to perform a sex act.
In an interview with German magazine Der Spiegel, Ms. Mayorga said she refused to engage in the sex act, but kissed him after he promised he would let her go.
She recalled: “He starts to come on to me very strong.
“And he starts to do stuff to me and touch me and grab me. I pushed him away and kept saying, ‘No’.”
She stated that, a short time later, Ronaldo pulled her into a bedroom and raped her while she cried: “No, no, no”.
Ms. Mayorga went to the Las Vegas Police Department later that day and was examined in the hospital.
Evidence of the alleged rape was documented and photographed.
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