By Canadian Press

Prosecutor: Cristiano Ronaldo won’t face Vegas rape charge

Jul 22, 2019 | 1:09 PM

LAS VEGAS — Cristiano Ronaldo won’t face criminal charges after a woman accused the soccer star of raping her in his suite at a Las Vegas resort more than 10 years ago, the city’s top prosecutor said Monday.

Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson said he reviewed a new police investigation and determined that Kathryn Mayorga’s claim can’t be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

“Therefore, no charges will be forthcoming,” Wolfson said in a statement.

Ronaldo’s attorney, Peter Christiansen, was travelling Monday and not immediately available to comment. Christiansen has said Ronaldo and Mayorga had consensual sex in 2009. He denied it was rape.

Attorneys for Mayorga, a former model and schoolteacher, did not immediately respond to telephone, text and email messages.

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The Associated Press generally does not name people who say they are victims of sexual assault. Mayorga gave consent through her lawyers to make her name public.

She has a lawsuit pending against Ronaldo in U.S. court in Las Vegas that accused Ronaldo or those working for him of conspiracy, defamation, breach of contract and coercion and fraud. She says they allowed terms of a confidential financial settlement with Mayorga to become public.

Mayorga’s attorney, Leslie Mark Stovall, has acknowledged that Mayorga received $375,000 in hush money following the encounter. He maintained that agreement was made under pressure from “fixers” trying to protect Ronaldo’s reputation.

The lawsuit seeks to void the agreement and collect at least $200,000 more from Ronaldo.

Ronaldo, who plays in Italy for the Turin-based soccer club Juventus, is one of the most recognizable and highly paid players in sports.

Mayorga underwent a medical exam to collect DNA evidence shortly after she says Ronaldo assaulted her in June 2009. She spoke again with police for the new investigation, and authorities this year obtained a sample of Ronaldo’s DNA through Italian authorities.

Police said the initial investigation was closed in 2009 because Mayorga only identified her attacker as a European soccer player, not by name, and did not say where she claims the rape took place.

The investigation was reopened in last year at the request of her attorneys, shortly before they sued Ronaldo.

Ken Ritter, The Associated Press