Cristiano Ronaldo allegedly raped woman, paid her hush money
A woman, who had earlier alleged that Juventus superstar Cristiano Ronaldo had sexually assaulted and raped her, has come forward and will reportedly challenge a 2009 legal settlement where Ronaldo paid $375,000 to hush her up. The woman, Kathryn Mayorga from Las Vegas, came forward on Friday, speaking to German publication Der Spiegel. Here are the details.
Ronaldo allegedly anally raped Mayorga
According to Mayorga, she met Ronaldo at the VIP section of a Las Vegas nightclub in 2009, when she was 25 years old. The duo exchanged numbers and later met up at Ronaldo's penthouse, where Ronaldo had other friends over. Ronaldo then allegedly invited her to change into a swimsuit, took her to his bedroom, and anally raped her.
Mayorga faces considerable risk in coming out against Ronaldo
After the alleged incident, Ronaldo went for a legal settlement wherein he paid Mayorga $375,000, and made her sign a non-disclosure agreement. However, Mayorga is now facing considerable risk for coming out against Ronaldo, as the agreement reportedly had a clause requiring Mayorga to pay back the money, and compensation for any damages done to Ronaldo, in the incident of a breach of agreement.
What motivated Mayorga to come out against Ronaldo
Despite the risks, Mayorga has come out for several reasons, not least being the #MeToo movement which has many women bravely up to their assailants. Mayorga will now challenge the settlement agreement with Ronaldo in court, and plans to bring a new lawsuit against him. She also wants public attention to the case to encourage other victims of Ronaldo, if any, to speak up.
Ronaldo's lawyers threaten to sue Der Spiegel over the report
Meanwhile, reacting to the report, lawyers for Cristiano Ronaldo told Reuters that they would sue the German publication for publishing "blatantly illegal" accusations by Mayorga. Christian Schertz, Ronaldo's lawyer, added that the Der Spiegel report was "an inadmissible reporting of suspicions in the area of privacy". However, neither Cristiano Ronaldo and his agent Gestifute, nor his club Juventus have responded to the report yet.
This isn't the first rape accusation against Cristiano Ronaldo
This isn't the first allegation of rape against Cristiano Ronaldo. In 2005, Ronaldo had been arrested and questioned for allegedly raping a woman in a London hotel. However, owing to insufficient evidence, Scotland Yard dropped the case against Ronaldo, who was 20 at the time.
