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LONDON. — Cristiano Ronaldo’s rape lawsuit has been dismissed with no option to file it again.
The Manchester United striker (37) had been harmed by accuser Kathryn Mayorga’s lawyer acting in bad faith, a United States judge ruled.
District Judge Jennifer Dorsey added “harsh sanctions were merited” as she kicked the case out over the way the documents were obtained. The footballer, then 24, had been accused of raping the model, then 25, in Las Vegas, United States, in June 2009.
He strongly denied the claims and insisted the sex was consensual.
Ronaldo paid her £290 000 in hush money but the lawsuit sought a further payout, which could have been millions.
Dorsey said the accuser’s lawyer Leslie Mark Stovall conducted himself in bad faith by using leaked and stolen documents detailing attorney-client discussions between Ronaldo and his lawyers. The 42-page order said: “The procurement and continued use of these documents was bad faith.
“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 Mayorgas claims.”
Dorsey had signalled earlier this year that she was ready to end the case.
It came after Stovall failed to meet a procedural deadline in his bid for more than £20.2million in damages based on allegations that Ronaldo or his associates violated a 2010 confidentiality agreement by letting reports about it appear in European publications in 2017. Ronaldo’s legal team blamed the reports on electronic data leaks of documents hacked from law firms and other entities in Europe and put up for sale.
His Las Vegas attorney Peter Christiansen also alleged that information was altered or fabricated.
American model Kathryn Mayorga claimed Ronaldo raped her in a hotel room when she was 25 and working in Rain nightclub inside the Palms Casino Resort.
Court documents lodged by her lawyers state Mayorga refused Ronaldo’s advances while screaming: “No, no, no”.
Mayorga was working in Rain nightclub, inside the Palms Casino Resort, and said she met the star in the venue’s VIP area.
Las Vegas police reopened their rape investigation after Mayorgas lawsuit was filed, but Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson decided in 2019 not to pursue criminal charges.
He decided too much time had passed and evidence failed to show the accusations could be proved to a jury beyond all reasonable doubt. — The Sun.
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