Cristiano Ronaldo Reportedly Served Court Papers in Lawsuit for Alleged Rape
June 14, 2019
Juventus superstar Cristiano Ronaldo was reportedly served with court papers related to a federal lawsuit in the United States for allegedly raping Kathryn Mayorga in 2009 in Las Vegas.
TMZ Sports reported Friday that Mayorga's legal team was able to get the documents to Ronaldo after she dropped the Nevada state lawsuit, which they said hampered the process.
"Ronaldo's legal team has already responded to the lawsuit with court docs of their own in which they ask the judge for permission to file a new 46-page document which will presumably lay out their argument for the court to throw out the case," the TMZ report noted.
Mayorga filed the original lawsuit in October 2018, stating she wanted to void a $375,000 nondisclosure agreement because of her "fragile emotional state" when it was signed, per CNN.
She said Ronaldo invited herself, her friends and other people to his penthouse suite after meeting him inside a Las Vegas nightclub. While she was in the bathroom, she said he entered and asked for oral sex before raping her as she repeatedly said no, according to CNN.
The 34-year-old Portugal native released a statement denying the allegations after the lawsuit became public:
Cristiano Ronaldo @CristianoI firmly deny the accusations being issued against me. Rape is an abominable crime that goes against everything that I am and believe in. 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.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department reopened the case—Mayorga filed a police report at the time, but didn't name Ronaldo—but no criminal charges have been filed.
Ronaldo has remained active at both the club and international levels during the lawsuit and investigation. He led Juventus to the 2018-19 Serie A title in Italy and guided Portugal to a championship in the 2019 UEFA Nations League with a win over the Netherlands on Sunday.