A BANNER bearing the name of Cristiano Ronaldo’s alleged rape victim has been flown over Old Trafford in protest against the Portugal captain who had just returned to Man United.
But who is she and what allegations has she made? Here’s all you need to know…
Who is Kathryn Mayorga?
The 36-year-old alleges the £100million Portuguese footballer raped her in a Las Vegas hotel room more than a decade ago.
Ronaldo has always strongly denied the claims — calling them “fake news” — and says the sex was consensual.
The alleged rape is said to have happened in the early hours of June 13, 2009.
At the time of the alleged attack, Ronaldo, then 24, was in Las Vegas on holiday with his brother-in-law and cousin.
Budding model Ms Mayorga, then 25, was working in Rain nightclub, inside the Palms Casino Resort and met the star in the venue’s VIP area.
She told Der Spiegel she has suffered clinical depression and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder following the alleged rape.
What were the Ronaldo rape allegations?
Legal papers seen by The Sun state: “Cristiano Ronaldo pulled the plaintiff into a bedroom and on to a bed and attempted to engage in sexual intercourse.”
It said the plaintiff refused, tried to cover herself and was screaming: “No, no, no”.
It adds: “When Cristiano Ronaldo completed the sexual assault, he allowed her to leave the bedroom stating he was sorry, he was usually a gentleman.”
Ronaldo reportedly previously agreed to pay Ms Mayorga £287,000 to stop her pursuing criminal charges — which could have seen him jailed for life — and gagged her from going public.
But her lawyers are now trying to overturn that settlement and she has spoken out for the first time.
During a press conference in Las Vegas, her attorney Leslie Stovall said that she had “considered suicide” and suffered emotional and mental damage, which he attributed to the alleged rape.
He also revealed the model had a learning disability during high school but had worked hard to overcome it and had gone to university to obtain a degree.
She says she signed only because she was “terrified of retaliation” from Ronaldo and of “being publicly humiliated”, court papers claim.
She told Der Spiegel she was now coming forward after seeing sex abuse victims tell their stories as part of the #MeToo movement.
Ronaldo has always denied the claims.
What happened at the Las Vegas hotel?
Paparazzi pictures showed the pair chatting, before he invited her and a friend to his penthouse suite — room 57306 at the Palms — “to enjoy the view of the Las Vegas Strip”.
The luxurious suite featured a hot tub on the balcony.
Ms Mayorga claims she refused to get into the hot tub because she did not want to ruin her dress.
She said Ronaldo offered her some clothes to wear and told her to change in a bathroom.
The court papers claim that while she was changing, Ronaldo walked in, exposed himself, and asked her to perform a sex act.
In an interview with German magazine Der Spiegel, Ms Mayorga said she refused to engage in the sex act, but kissed him after he promised he would let her go.
She recalled: “He starts to come on to me very strong.
“And he starts to do stuff to me and touch me and grab me. I pushed him away and kept saying, ‘No’.”
She stated that, a short time later, Ronaldo pulled her into a bedroom and raped her while she cried: “No, no, no.”
Ms Mayorga went to the Las Vegas Police Department later that day and was examined in hospital.
Evidence of the alleged rape was documented and photographed.
And footage obtained exclusively by The Sun shows Ronaldo and Mayorga dancing intimately in the Sin City nightclub just hours before the alleged attack.
What is the latest?
In June 2019, Las Vegas police department dropped the case and added that “no charges will be forthcoming”.
A Clark County District Attorney’s Office spokesman said: “A request for Prosecution was submitted to the District Attorney’s Office on July 8, 2019.
“Based upon a review of the information presented at this time, the allegations of sexual assault against Cristiano Ronaldo cannot be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
“Therefore, no charges will be forthcoming.”
The District Attorney’s Office also suggested Ms Mayorga’s refusal to identify him at the beginning resulted in officers being unable to “conduct any meaningful investigation”.
But in October 2019 The Sun revealed the Juventus forward’s DNA was matched to evidence in the case.
Among 100 pages of emails between police and prosecutors on the criminal case, which has since been dropped, Vegas detective Jeffrey Guyer wrote: “DNA is back and is a match.”
And Ronaldo told his lawyers Ms Mayorga said “no” and “stop”, leaked emails claim.
Now Ms Mayorga, 34, is pursuing a civil case against 34-year-old Ronaldo, seeking damages of £165,000.
Detectives quizzed her for two hours and, at the time, it was believed she refused to reveal the alleged rapist.
But in emails seen by The Sun, Ms Mayorga names Ronaldo.
Discussing communications between the player and his lawyers, whistleblowing website Football Leaks revealed Ronaldo claimed Ms Mayorga said “no” — but three weeks later stated: “She did not scream. She did not cry out or anything.”
Ronaldo has always strongly denied any wrongdoing.
But Court documents revealed in April 2021 that she is claiming £56million in damages.
She wants £18m for “past pain and suffering”, £18m for “future pain and suffering” and £18m in punitive damages.
The 37-year-old’s expenses rack up to £1.4m.
That includes legal fees of £1.1m.
What has Ronaldo said?
Christiano Ronaldo had strongly denied the rape accusation, saying the crime was “against everything I believe in”.
“I firmly deny the accusations being issued against me,” Ronaldo said in a statement on Twitter.
“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.”
The former Juventus star has also dismissed the claim as “fake news”.
His lawyer Peter Christiansen in October 2018 added in a statement his client’s position continued to be that “what happened in 2009 in Las Vegas was completely consensual”.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
