Los Angeles (AFP) – The civil complaint for rape against Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo filed by a former American model in the United States has been dismissed by an American judge, according to the court decision consulted on Saturday June 11, 2022 by AFP.
A Nevada court judge dismissed the case on Friday over alleged wrongdoing against plaintiff attorney Kathryn Mayorga, who accused the soccer star of raping her in 2009 at a Las Vegas hotel.
American justice had decided in 2019 not to prosecute Ronaldo in criminal proceedings, for lack of evidence.
In civil matters, a judge had recommended in October to close the complaint of Kathryn Mayorga, now 37, considering that it was partly based on pirated documents from “Football leaks” which should not have been find in his possession.
In his recommendations, he accused the young woman’s lawyer, Leslie Stovall, of having acted with ” bad faith ” in this file.
The federal court in Nevada followed these recommendations for these same reasons, while affirming ” recognize ” the ” severity of his decision for the complainant.
The striker, who currently plays for English club Manchester United, has always strongly denied the rape allegations, saying he had a relationship ” completely consented with the young woman.
In June 2009, the plaintiff had certainly called the police of Las Vegas to denounce a rape but she had refused to identify her attacker. The file was then closed.
A ” private mediation was organized shortly after with representatives of Ronaldo, resulting in a financial transaction in 2010: 375,000 dollars in exchange for absolute confidentiality on the alleged facts or the agreement, as well as the abandonment of any procedure.
For Mrs. Mayorga’s current lawyers, this agreement is null and void, in particular because of the psychological disorder of their client at the time and the pressure exerted against her. They demanded up to $200 million in compensation from Ronaldo.
It was in August 2018 that the complainant contacted the Las Vegas police again and asked for her case to be reopened, publicly accusing the footballer for the first time.