Woman Alleging Rape by Soccer Star Cristiano Ronaldo Files Lawsuit

An American woman who has accused international soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo of rape has come forward with her full story. Kathryn Mayorga, 34, plans to sue Ronaldo, 33, of Portugal and seeks to void a previous out-of-court settlement and nondisclosure agreement.

Mayorga detailed the alleged attack in Der Spiegel on Friday. According to documents reviewed by the German magazine, Ronaldo filled out a questionnaire with law firm Carlos Osório de Castro in which he admitted “she said ‘no’ and ‘stop’ several times.”

Mayorga said that on June 12, 2009, Ronaldo raped her in his Las Vegas hotel room. She said she had repeatedly turned him down during the course of the night. Eventually, he pulled her into the bedroom and jumped on her. She said she yelled “no, no, no” before he raped her anally. Afterward, she filed an anonymous police report and had a rape kit examination performed at the hospital.

According to Der Spiegel, Ronaldo said in the questionnaire to his lawyers: “She said that she didn’t want to, but she made herself available. … But she kept saying ‘no.’ ‘Don’t do it.’ ‘I’m not like the others.’ I apologized afterward.”

Months later, Ronaldo paid Mayorga a $375,000 settlement—a week’s salary for Ronaldo on Real Madrid—and she signed a nondisclosure agreement.

Mayorga plans to sue Ronaldo and have the previous agreement voided. “The purpose of this lawsuit is to hold Cristiano Ronaldo responsible within a civil court of law for the injuries he has caused Kathryn Mayorga and the consequences of those injuries,” Leslie Mark Stovall, Mayorga’s lawyer, said.

“I thought, ‘Is this a joke?’ This guy that is so famous and so hot … he’s a frickin’ loser and a creep,’ ” Mayorga said.

“I’ve had these serious breakdowns. And again, blaming of the rape. And I blame him, and I blame myself for signing that thing,” she added.

Ronaldo’s legal team called the Der Spiegel report “blatantly illegal” and “an inadmissible reporting of suspicions in the area of privacy.”

In 2005, Ronaldo was arrested and questioned on suspicion of rape at a London hotel, but Scotland Yard investigators did not pursue charges against him.

Documents were provided to Der Spiegel by the whistleblower platform the Football Leaks. In April, documents from the Football Leaks showed Ronaldo’s use of previously undisclosed offshore tax havens. In June, he agreed to pay the Spanish government  $21.7 million to avoid going to prison for tax evasion.