Las Vegas (AP) – Around four years after allegations of rape in the USA, the case for soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo is probably finally off the table.
A district court in Las Vegas has not admitted a lawsuit worth millions and, according to the AP news agency, justified this with the fact that the plaintiff’s lawyer used “stolen” confidential documents.
In 2018, a woman alleged that Ronaldo raped her in Las Vegas in 2009. In the summer of 2019, the public prosecutor in the US state of Nevada decided not to bring charges against the 37-year-old Portuguese due to a lack of evidence. Ronaldo had described 2018 as “probably the most difficult” of his life in view of the rape allegations against him.
Kathryn Mayorga immediately reported the alleged rape to the police on June 13, 2009, but did not give Ronaldo’s name or a location at the time. In 2010, the lawyers for both sides settled out of court, according to prosecutors.
Ronaldo’s lawyers said in the court documents that the football star and Mayorga entered into the agreement to “preserve confidentiality” and “avoid a public and costly litigation”. As Ronaldo’s lawyers later revealed, $375,000 was paid to the woman as part of the deal. The woman’s lawyers had now demanded $25 million, arguing that the other party had broken confidentiality.
The Las Vegas court’s decision is appealable to a San Francisco Court of Appeals.