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The woman accusing Cristiano Ronaldo of sexual assault has been questioned twice by law enforcement officials and plans to cooperate further, her lawyer said Wednesday as the Las Vegas police department reopened its investigation into the case that concerns one of the sports. world's most famous athletes and an alleged assault of 2009.
Kathryn Mayorga, who has filed a civil lawsuit against Ronaldo, claiming to have raped her nine years ago in an apartment on the top floor of Las Vegas, is still in "active therapy" to deal with the consequences emotional of the alleged assault, according to her lawyer, the #MeToo movement that helped her to express him has "given a lot of courage".
"His decision to sue this case is important," said lawyer Leslie Stovall at a press conference Wednesday, "because she is now defending herself alone.
"She wants justice, of course," said Stovall, when asked what Mayorga wanted to get from this lawsuit. "She would not want to be the person who has been living with this for eight or nine years."
Ronaldo denied the accusations, which began in 2017 when his lawyers rejected an article in the German press center Der Spiegel, who had reported the incident for the first time (without identifying Mayorga's name). Der Spiegel's report was largely based on material obtained from Football Leaks, an anonymous group similar to WikiLeaks that unveils and publishes private or sensitive documents related to the world of international football.
This week, when the focus on the case resurfaced after Der Spiegel's publication of another story that included an interview with Mayorga, Ronaldo first published a vague denial in an article posted on Instagram, referring to "false news". wants to "be famous" by taking advantage of his celebrity – before publishing a statement on Twitter in which he refuted the allegations of Mayorga.
"I strongly deny the charges against me," said Ronaldo. "Rape is an abominable crime that goes against all that I am and in which I believe."
"As clever as I can be to erase my name, I refuse to feed the media show created by people seeking to promote themselves at my expense. [sic] will allow me to wait with tranquility the results of all investigations. "
The mayor filed a lawsuit against Ronaldo on September 27. She describes in detail the alleged assault, which included including anal rape, as well as the emotional aftermath in which she stated that Ronaldo's "team" was hampered and blocked. influenced the police investigation and threatened Mayorga to ridicule her for the purpose of pushing her to a quick settlement.
Suffering from debilitating emotional distress, the lawsuit, Mayorga finally signed a $ 375,000 settlement agreement that she never had to talk about interactions that she could have had with Ronaldo. His current lawyers, who were not involved in this settlement, are now saying that the agreement should be rescinded.
Stovall also said that there remained alarming and unresolved questions about the alleged lack of forcefulness of the police department in his investigations, which would imply that Ronaldo's "repairers" group had influenced the activity of the police. police service.
"I have found no explanation for the inability of the Metropolitan Police Department to continue this investigation," he said. "I do not know why, but I'm curious to know."
Referring to the possibility of a monetary settlement, Stovall said: "In our legal system, you can not give back what it has lost .I would like us to be able to do it. Would like us to say: "What happened on June 13, 2009 did not happen."
"Unfortunately, we can not do that."
Stovall added that Mayorga was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the alleged incident and that he suffered depression – including suicidal thoughts – in the ensuing years. . He said that she chose to avoid commenting further on the case because of her "emotional state".
The cancellation of the previous agreement is the biggest challenge facing Mayorga and his legal team in advancing the ongoing file. For Ronaldo, however, the most serious element of the situation is the decision of the Las Vegas police to reopen his investigation into the incident.
The police will use the information provided by Mayorga (and Der Spiegel) in the investigation. Although the risk of criminal charges is being reduced due to the length of time since the alleged incident, Ronaldo could be extradited to the United States if he was charged. United to face a lawsuit.
Nevada law has recently changed its statute of limitations for sexual assault charges, bringing it to 20 years, and those convicted of sexual assault in that state face a prison sentence in the US. life.
Stovall stated that he and his associates had already provided the Las Vegas Police with a number of relevant documents from Football Leaks, including written questions and answers attributed to Ronaldo, in which he admits to having had sex with Mayorga and, in one version of the document, admits Mayorga says "no" and "stop" several times.
In an email sent to ESPN, a spokesman for Ronaldo's sports agent, Jorge Mendes, declined to say whether Ronaldo had received an official notification of Mayorga's lawsuit.
When he does, Ronaldo will ensure that the trial presumes that he or the people working for him are guilty of 11 counts including conspiracy, defamation, abuse of a vulnerable person, battery , emotional distress, coercion and fraud, racketeering and conspiracy, breach of contract, abuse of process and negligence for making public the details of the confidential settlement. She claims damages of at least $ 200,000, which, according to Stovall, is simply a required minimum.
Ronaldo, who has signed lucrative approval agreements with many global brands, will have 20 days to respond to the complaint once it has been formally served, Stovall said. EA Sports, one of Ronaldo's trading partners, who is wearing Ronaldo on the cover of the latest video game of his famous football video game FIFA, announced in a statement that the company had "seen the troubling report" detailing the charges and would monitor the case goes from the front.
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