Cristiano Ronaldo in action for Juventus. Photo / AP
Cristiano Ronaldo in action for Juventus. Photo / AP
WARNING: DISTURBING CONTENT
Cristiano Ronaldo has denied claims he raped a model in a Las Vegas hotel room nine years ago and said that his accusers are 'seeking to promote themselves'.
The Portuguese footballer said "rape is an abominable crime that goes against everything that I am and believe in" as he took to Twitter to counter the allegations.
Earlier this week Las Vegas police reopened an investigation into Kathryn Mayorga's claims that Ronaldo raped her in 2009.
Mayorga, a 34-year-old teacher who was an aspiring model at the time of the alleged assault, claims Ronaldo raped her in a bathroom at the Palms Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas in the early hours of June 13, 2009.
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.
Court papers claimed he attacked her even though she was screaming 'No, no, no!'
Ronaldo wrote on Twitter today: '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.'
In a second tweet, he added: 'My clear conscious will thereby allow me to await with tranquillity the results of any and all investigations.'
Last night, the Juventus star watched his team play as he prepared to fight the allegations.
The 33-year-old was accompanied by his girlfriend Georgina Rodriguez, 23, and his seven-year-old son Cristiano to watch the Italian giants play Swiss underdogs Young Boys in the Champions League group stage.
He was unable to play after getting a one-match ban for being sent off in the previous round against Valencia.
The ex-Manchester United player spoke out in a video on Instagram just hours after Mayorga's lawyer filed court documents about the case. Grinning into the camera, he said: "No, no, no, no, no. What they said today? Fake, fake news."
"They want to promote [themselves by using] my name. It's normal. They want to be famous to say my name, but it is part of the job. I am a happy man and all good."
The pair had met at Rain nightclub at the Palms, where Ronaldo was staying on holiday. Pictures show Ronaldo and Ms Mayorga together at the club. In one intimate moment he clasps her hand while whispering into her ear.
According to documents filed at Clark County District Court on Friday, the footballer, invited Ms Mayorga and a friend to his penthouse suite 'to enjoy the view of the Las Vegas Strip'.
Ms Mayorga claims she refused to get into his hot tub because she did not want to ruin her dress, then Ronaldo offered her some athletic shorts and a T-shirt and pointed her towards a bathroom where she could change.
The court documents state that as she was changing, Ronaldo entered the bathroom, exposed himself and asked her to perform a sex act.
The documents add: 'The plaintiff [Ms Mayorga] refused and stated she wanted to leave the hotel suite. Upon leaving the bathroom, Ronaldo pulled the plaintiff into a bedroom and on to a bed and attempted to engage in sexual intercourse. Plaintiff refused… and covered herself in an attempt to prevent sexual penetration.'
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodriguez at Juventus' Champions League match against BSC Young Boys. Photo / Getty
According to the papers, the striker then turned Ms Mayorga on to her side, and that even though she was screaming 'no, no, no!', she was raped by the star.
The documents claim Ronaldo left the bedroom after the assault, 'stating he was sorry, he was usually a gentleman'.
Separately, in an interview with Der Spiegel, Ms Mayorga claims Ronaldo said he was '99 percent good a good guy' let down by the '1 percent'.
The court documents claim the footballer confirmed the pair had sex but said it was consensual.
Ms Mayorga alleges she reported the incident to Las Vegas police later that day and went to hospital where evidence of the alleged rape was documented and photographed.
She later hired a lawyer, and in 2010 negotiated a £287,000 out-of-court settlement. As part of that deal, she agreed never to go public with her allegations.
But the new claim seeks to overturn that settlement, which she says she only signed because she was 'terrified of retaliation' from Ronaldo and of 'being publicly humiliated by being identified as a victim of sexual assault'.
Her lawyer also claimed she was 'incompetent and lacked the capacity' to enter into the agreement at the time due to the psychological impact of the attack.
She says she has been left traumatised by the incident and has now gone public, in part because of the #MeToo movement in which women have shared their tales of abuse. She also claimed to have been left with PTSD and 'major depression'.
The lawsuit also the psychological impact of the incident had made Ms Mayorga feel suicidal and left her struggling to maintain her relationships and stay in work.
Ronaldo claimed Ms Mayorga's physical injuries were caused by another person.
Court papers quote alleged correspondence between Ronaldo's legal team, in which an unnamed person writes the financial settlement with Ms Mayorga is 'incredibly favourable' and resulted in her not pursing a criminal case 'which could have resulted in Cristiano Ronaldo being imprisoned for a life sentence for sexual assault'.
Ms Mayorga is suing for damages which could run into millions of dollars. But Ronaldo's lawyers have vowed to sue German magazine Der Spiegel, which originally reported Ms Mayorga's claims, saying the 'blatantly illegal' story 'violates the personal rights of our client in an exceptionally serious way'.
