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Rape allegations from 2009 involving Juventus striker Cristiano Ronaldo came back to light this weekend, with German magazine Der Spiegel publishing a pair of articles with updated and incredibly detailed information linked to the alleged incident that took place nine years ago in Las Vegas.
The outlet’s main report, published on Saturday, details everything from a non-disclosure agreement that was signed by both Ronaldo and the accuser, 34-year-old Kathryn Mayorga, whose name has now become public for the first time, to her account of what happened at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas nearly 10 years ago. The Der Spiegel report included details relating to an NDA included with a payment that was allegedly upward of $375,000 after the initial date of the accusations (June 13, 2009) occurred; a detailed recollection of what happened in 2009, according to Mayorga; and documents from 2009, obtained via the Football Leaks website, that were sent from Mayorga’s lawyer at the time to Ronaldo’s lawyer in England.
On Monday afternoon, the Las Vegas Police Metropolitan Department said in a press release that they have reopened the case against Ronaldo.
The decision from Mayorga — who talked openly about the emotional trauma she suffered in the months following the reported rape allegations — to come public has to do with “a sense of passivity where she would do anything just to be able to leave/escape/avoid revisiting the sexual assault by continuing the mediation.”
Der Spiegel originally published the story in 2017 and has also now published the original filing from Las Vegas law enforcement outlets. Eighteen months ago, though, Mayorga did not want her name to be public. That has changed.
Fast forward a year and a half: We had the #metoo movement and Mayorga has a new lawyer who says the settlement is void. He says that she was diagnosed with PTSD and describes the mediation as traumatic. Even CR7's lawyers stated that she was extremely volatile and emotional 8/24
— Christoph Winterbach (@derWinterbach) September 30, 2018
Mayorga is now seeking to void the settlement after detailing her side of the account. “The reason why I signed the contract in the first place (was) because I didn’t want my name out there,” Mayorga told Der Spiegel.
Ronaldo has denied the allegations in the past, and has done so again on Sunday when asked about it by a fan on social media. During a live video session on his Instagram account, Ronaldo said the following about the allegations:
“What they said today: fake, fake news. They want to be famous, to say my name. It’s part of the job. I’m a happy man and all good.”
(Source: Wall Street Journal)
On Friday, members of Ronaldo’s camp said that they would sue Der Spiegel for publishing “blatantly illegal” allegations.
“[The report] violates the personal rights of our client Cristiano Ronaldo in an exceptionally serious way,” Shertz’s statement said. “This is an inadmissible reporting of suspicions in the area of privacy. It would therefore already be unlawful to reproduce this reporting.
”We have been instructed to immediately assert all existing claims under press law against [Der Spiegel], in particular compensation for moral damages in an amount corresponding to the gravity of the infringement, which is probably one of the most serious violations of personal rights in recent years.”
(Source: ESPNFC)
Juventus has not publicly commented or issued a statement on the rape allegations regarding their club-record signing.