SPORTS
Rape lawsuit against Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo dismissed by US judge in Las Vegas
The Las Vegas rape lawsuit against Cristiano Ronaldo has been dismissed by a US judge.
The Manchester United star paid his accuser Kathryn Mayorga $375,000 in hush money after she alleged that he raped her in a Vegas hotel room in 2009.
More recently, she filed a lawsuit seeking a further pay-out, which could have amounted to millions of dollars
Now though, US District Judge Jennifer Dorsey has kicked the case out of court.
She did so to punish the Mayorga’s attorney, Leslie Mark Stovall, for “bad-faith conduct” and the use of “purloined” confidential documents
“I find that the procurement and continued use of these documents was bad faith, and simply disqualifying Stovall will not cure the prejudice to Ronaldo because the misappropriated documents and their confidential contents have been woven into the very fabric of (plaintiff Kathryn) Mayorga’s claims,” the ruling said. “Harsh sanctions are merited.”
They could appeal the decision to the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.
At the time of the alleged incident, Ronaldo had just completed his £80million transfer from Manchester United to Real Madrid.
The Manchester United star consistently denied the claim and made a public statement on social media in October 2018.
It read: “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.”
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
