LAS VEGAS - Cristiano Ronaldo on Wednesday categorically denied accusations by a former model who says the soccer star 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, who plays for Juventus in Italy's Serie A. "Rape is an abominable crime that goes against everything that I am and believe in. My clear conscious (sic) will thereby allow me to await with tranquillity the results of any and all investigations," he added.
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.
I 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.
— Cristiano Ronaldo (@Cristiano) October 3, 2018
My clear conscious will thereby allow me to await with tranquillity the results of any and all investigations.
— Cristiano Ronaldo (@Cristiano) October 3, 2018
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.