Cristiano Ronaldo has lost a bid for dismissal or complete secrecy in a lawsuit by a Nevada woman who accused him of raping her at a Las Vegas resort in 2009.
A judge rejected Ronaldo’s claim that releasing court records would have ‘weaponised the allegations in this case,’ risk public scandal and harm Ronaldo’s reputation and endorsements.
‘The cat is already out of the bag about Mayorga’s allegations‘ and the settlement, Judge Dorsey wrote.
‘I’m not satisfied that Ronaldo’s interest in holding Mayorga to her agreement is enough to justify sealing the entire record in this case.’
The judge called the hush-money ‘$375,000’ settlement Ronaldo paid Mayorga in 2010 a confidential contract between private parties.
‘The documents themselves and direct quotes from any of them will remain sealed,’ she said.
Ms. Mayorga has given permission through her lawyers to be identified in relation to this case.
Larissa Drohobyczer, the lawyer representing Ronaldo’s accuser, Kathryn Mayorga, said she was pleased with US District Judge Jennifer Dorsey’s ruling in Las Vegas on Friday, August 2, 2019.
The lawsuit seeks monetary damages of at least 200,000 US dollars (£165,000) Peter Christiansen, representing the Juventus and Portugal striker, declined to comment.
The ruling comes a month after Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson said Ronaldo would not face criminal charges in the case, with his lawyers saying the pair had consensual sex in June 2009.
‘The allegations of sexual assault against Cristiano Ronaldo cannot be proven beyond a reasonable doubt,’ they said in a statement. ‘Therefore, no charges will be forthcoming.’
Ms. Mayorga said Ronaldo had sexually assaulted her in 2009 after they met at the Rain Nightclub in the Palms hotel. But the player denied the allegations and responded to the accusation by saying: ‘Rape is an abominable crime that goes against everything that I am and believe in.’