Cristiano Ronaldo denies rape allegations, has a 'clear conscience'
Juventus star Cristiano Ronaldo released a statement on Wednesday morning, directly refuting the allegations that he raped an American woman in Las Vegas back in 2009.
Ronaldo took to Twitter to publish his statement.
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
“I firmly deny the accusations being issued against me. Rape in 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. My clear conscious [sic] will thereby allow me to await with tranquility the results of any and all investigations.”
Ronaldo, 33, has been accused of rape by 34-year-old Kathryn Mayorga. The two met in Las Vegas in 2009, and in the account she gave to German news magazine Der Spiegel, Mayorga claims that Ronaldo invited her to his hotel room and he wouldn’t stop after they shared a kiss. She recalls that she repeatedly “begged” him to stop while he forced her to have anal sex with him.
Mayorga went to the police and had a rape kit done at the hospital shortly after. But she never pressed charges, and received a $375,000 settlement form Ronaldo that required her to sign a non-disclosure agreement, forbidding her from speaking about the incident.
Mayorga told Der Spiegel that consequences she has suffered since that night made her feel like she no longer had to abide by the non-disclosure agreement. And since Mayorga came forward, the Las Vegas police have reopened the investigation, and her lawyer has filed a civil complaint that seeks to void the non-disclosure agreement.
This is not the first time Ronaldo has been accused of rape. In 2005 he was arrested and questioned by Scotland Yard over allegations that he’d raped a woman at a London hotel. However, the case was eventually dropped over insufficient evidence.
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Liz Roscher is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at lizroscher@yahoo.com or follow her on Twitter at @lizroscher.
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