Police issue warrant for Cristiano Ronaldo’s DNA in rape case
According to the Wall Street Journal, the Las Vegas police have found DNA on the clothing of the alleged victim, Kathryn Mayorga.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the Las Vegas police have issued a warrant to obtain a DNA sample from Juventus player Cristiano Ronaldo to see if it matches DNA found on the dress of his supposed victim, Kathyrn Mayorga, who has accused him of rape.
According to the US-based newspaper, the warrant has been sent to the judicial authorities in Italy, where Ronaldo is currently resident in Turin, after his move last summer from Real Madrid.
The dress Mayorga was wearing on the night of the alleged rape in 2009 is a key piece of evidence in the case. Las Vegas police have discovered DNA other than that of the alleged victim on the item of clothing. Provided everything in the warrant is correct, police in Italy would now be expected to collect a sample of Ronaldo's DNA to be sent to authorities in Las Vegas.
Cristiano Ronaldo's lawyer has confirmed the issuance of a warrant to obtain the player's DNA. "Mr Ronaldo has always maintained, as he does today, that what occurred in Las Vegas in 2009 was consensual in nature, so it is not surprising that DNA would be present, nor that the police would make this very standard request as part of their investigation", said Ronaldo’s lawyer, Peter S Christiansen, to the BBC.
Mayorga alleges Cristiano Ronaldo raped her in Las Vegas
Kathryn Mayorga filed a lawsuit last autumn alleging Ronaldo raped her in 2009 in Las Vegas and then agreed to pay her $375,000 to keep it secret.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s lawyer has strenuously denied the allegations, alleging that what occurred in Las Vegas was consensual.
According to the lawsuit filed by Mayorga, after the pair met at a night club Ronaldo invited the alleged victim and a friend back to his penthouse suite. Once there, say the court papers, he urged her into his hot tub, but she refused because she did not want to spoil her dress.
He is then alleged to have offered her clothes to change into and pointed her towards the bathroom. As she was changing, he purportedly came in and asked her to carry out a sexual act. She "refused and stated she wanted to leave the hotel suite," say the court documents.
"Upon leaving the bathroom, Ronaldo pulled the plaintiff into a bedroom and on to a bed and attempted to engage in sexual intercourse," the documents add. "Plaintiff refused... and covered herself in an attempt to prevent sexual penetration."
Ronaldo then allegedly raped Mayorga, despite her screaming "no", before saying: "Sorry, I'm usually a gentleman." According to court papers, the footballer confirmed that they did have sexual intercourse, but said that it was a consensual act.
Mayorga reported the alleged assault to the police the day after it occurred, but then negotiated a an out-of-court settlement with Ronaldo not to go public with her claims.
However, her lawyers now want to annul that agreement, which she says she only signed because she was "terrified of retaliation" and of "being publicly humiliated by being identified as a victim of sexual assault". She says she was left traumatised, and suffering from post-traumatic stress, "major depression" and suicidal thoughts.