Cristiano Ronaldo’s lawyers allegedly threatened his rape accuser with “public exposure” and “humiliation” if she continued speaking to police investigating her claim, court documents have revealed.
Kathryn Mayorga had reported the alleged rape in a Las Vegas hotel room to police and also sued the Manchester United star. The superstar striker has so many times fiercely denied raping Mayorga at the Palms Hotel and Casino on 12 June 2009.
But court documents say that lawyers representing Ronaldo warned her that if she continues to talk to the police they wouldn’t continue settlement and would publicly accuse her of extortion.
In a court transcript released by The Sun, Mayorga’s attorney Leslie Mark Stovall told the US District Court in September last year that Ronaldo’s lawyers had done their homework on Mayorga and knew she was “vulnerable to a very powerful individual and she was frightened of publicity.”
Stovall cited emails between Ronaldo’s lawyers which were exposed by whistleblowing website Football Leaks and said they “worked that angle”.
“What they did is they – and you’ll see it throughout the negotiations – ‘Well, if you continue to talk to Metro, we’re not going to continue settlement and we are going to publically (sic) accuse you of extortion, that you had consensual sex and that you’re now trying to extort money from this famous, well-known person.’
“And she was terrified of that. And that continued to be repeated and repeated and repeated throughout their correspondence. There was a threat.”
Stovall said Mayorga “complied” and stopped talking with police, although she did cooperate in a later probe.
He said: “You can look at the investigative report from Metro and you will see she stopped speaking to them early on. Why?
Because she was threatened with public exposure and humiliation by defendant’s attorneys. And it’s documented in those e-mails.”
Ultimately, Ronaldo’s lawyers succeeded in their strategy, resulting in a delay in the prosecution.
“When Metro reopened it (in 2019) and then decided that they had a case and asked the DA to prosecute it, he deferred.”
He added: “I can’t think of – to me, I can’t think of a more clearer case of an obstruction or a compounding of a crime by lawyers and a party.”
Last year lawyers for Ronaldo slammed Mayorga’s attorney, claiming he acquired paperwork labeled “attorney-client communications” through Football Leaks.
“Stovall intentionally sought stolen documents from an alleged cyber hacker and not only used those documents as exhibits to public filings in this case, but also as support for his request that the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department reopen a decade old investigation to prosecute the Defendant,” the lawyer wrote.
