An American woman accuses football player Cristiano Ronaldo of having raped her. In Der Spiegel she brings out her story. A statement from Ronaldo partly confirms her side of the story.
It is a legal battle between unequal parties: on the one hand Cristiano Ronaldo, 33, soccer world star. On the other side Kathryn Mayorga, 34, a blank sheet from Las Vegas. Once they crossed their paths: on June 12, 2009 in a nightclub and then in apartment 57306 of the Palms-Hotel in Las Vegas.
The German weekly Der Spiegel reported last year that Mayorga accused the footballer of having raped her in the penthouse apartment. Although the footballer denies everything and says that it was sex with mutual consent, months later it came to an arrangement between the lawyers of Mayorga and Ronaldo. He paid the woman 375,000 dollars (324,000 euros). In return, the alleged victim gave a written guarantee that she would never speak of the accusations.
She does not want to keep that promise nine years later today. She tells Der Spiegel why she breaks the silence. She also describes how she met Ronaldo, how he would have raped her, how it came to the settlement and how she suffers from the consequences of that one night in June 2009. "I never ceased to accept him and myself complain. He for what he did and for me because I signed that agreement. "
Mayorga now comes out with her story because her new lawyer, Leslie Mark Stovall, has filed a complaint against Ronaldo.
For months, Stovall, 65, studied the case. "Our complaint aims to have the settlement and the silent contract annulled," says Stovall. "Kathryn was unable to sign such an agreement because of the psychological damage she suffered as a result of the abuse. This makes the contract voidable. '
According to Stovall, Ronaldo's lawyers would have been aware of the psychological state of his client. "They used that for their purposes." The unstable state of Mayorga is also covered in e-mails from Ronaldo's lawyers.
In April of this year, a forensic psychiatrist examined Kathryn Mayorga at the request of Stovall. The professor noted that the woman suffers from post-traumatic stress and depression as' direct and exclusive consequence of sexual violence by Ronaldo '.
Record transfer
The night of the alleged rape starts in the VIP section of the Rain nightclub, in the Palms Casino Resort. Ronaldo is on holiday with his brother-in-law and his nephew. It was the summer when Ronaldo went from Manchester United to Real Madrid for the (then) record transfer amount of 94 million euros.
Kathryn Mayorga is out with a friend that evening, she says to Der Spiegel. Then someone suddenly touches her arm: Ronaldo. "He said something of: you, come with me."
Ronaldo would have laughed at her because she did not follow him right away, she says. Then he would have taken her a drink and introduced her to his entourage. They talked a little and then he would have asked her phone number. "I gave it, then he left. I thought: okay, cool. "
Ronaldo later sent her a text message, says Mayorga. The woman, her friend, Ronaldo and his group met in the lobby of the Palms, after which they went together to the apartment of Ronaldo. Some would have sat down in the jacuzzi. Ronaldo offered her swimming gear, says Mayorga.
Mayorga says she went to a bathroom to change clothes. When she was only wearing shorts, Ronaldo suddenly came in, with his sex out of his pants. "He was standing next to me and wanted me to touch his penis. He begged me: it's only for 30 seconds! I said no. Then he said that I had to put him in the mouth. What an idiot! I laughed and thought: this is a joke. This guy is so famous and he looks so good, but he's a creep. "
Ronaldo would not have left it. "At one point he said something about it: I'll let you go if you give me a kiss. And I said, okay. I kiss you, but I do not touch you. "
Kathryn Mayorga ensures she has only kissed and never touched him. But the kiss would only have made him even more horny. "He touched me everywhere, also from below and he wanted to kiss me everywhere. I pushed him away from me and said no again. "
According to Mayorga, Ronaldo did not give up and pulled her to a bedroom. "I pushed him away again. He has tried to take off my underwear. I then rolled up in a ball and tried to protect my vagina with both hands. Then he jumped on me. "She says she called" no, no, no. " But Ronaldo would have raped her anally, Kathryn Mayorga claims. Without condom, without lubricant.
Questionnaire
The next day, Mayorga goes to the police and shows them at the University Medical Center. The case was given a reference number that appears later in the settlement between Mayorga and Ronaldo. At the police, Mayorga is silent about the identity of the man who would have raped her.
She is advised by her lawyer. He advises her not to come out with the story. But Mayorga did not want to leave it for what it is: "I wanted to teach him a lesson. And I wanted him to pay the therapies that I was sure I would need them for. I never wanted to enrich myself. But I wanted to be able to look into his eyes and say what he did to me. "
From documents that the Football Leaks whistleblowing platform has passed on to Der Spiegel, it appears that Mayorga's then lawyer contacted a Ronaldo lawyer in July 2009. In the months that followed, a whole team of lawyers dealt with the accusations. They raise a hundred questions for Ronaldo, his brother-in-law and his nephew.
In that document Ronaldo receives the alias' X. 'Kathryn Mayorga is' Ms. C '.
There are multiple versions of the questionnaire. The questions remain similar, but the answers are not. In a December 2009 version, Ronaldo talks about sex with mutual consent. He also says that he did not receive any signals that she did not agree with sex, or that she felt bad afterwards.
But there is another, older version of the questionnaire. De Standaard has also been able to view that document. That questionnaire was sent by mail in September 2009. The sender is a lawyer from the office of Carlos Osório de Castro, a confidant of Ronaldo. The recipients of the e-mail were Osório de Castro and another colleague.
'No, no, no'
On the question if Ms. C (Mayorga, ed.) Would have raised, shouted or called her voice, replied X (Ronaldo, ed.):
"She said no and stop several times." She would have been lying on her side. "I pushed her past behind. It was brutal. We have not changed the position. 5/7 minutes. She said she did not want it, but she kept herself available. "And further:" She has always said no. "Do not do it. I'm not like the others. "In retrospect, I apologized." But she would not have shouted or called.
Question: Does Ms. C said something about it that the sex would have been too brutal for her? X: 'She did not complain about it being too brutal. She complained that I forced her. She did not say she would go to the police. "
Ronaldo confirms in that version of the questionnaire that Mayorga has said no more than once. And he apologized to her afterwards. There are contradictions about whether Kathryn Mayorga would have satisfied him by hand. He says yes. She says not.
He also describes a foreplay in the bathroom. He also describes the previous acquaintance in the nightclub differently than she does: the women would have asked to be in the VIP section and have drunk a lot. Phone numbers would not have been exchanged. Ronaldo would have invited the women in the club to his hotel.
Kathryn Mayorga, as Ronaldo's group of friends recalls, would not have come across as disgusted when she later came out of the room.
'Police hampered'
The testimony of Ronaldo to his lawyers is an important piece of evidence for Stovall, the new lawyer of Mayorga. The settlement that both parties concluded at the time would, according to him, have the aim of obstructing the police investigation. That's not allowed. There is no doubt that everyone has the right to defend themselves against accusations. But there is a red line: to want to hide a crime is also a crime. '
Kathryn Mayhorga has quit her job because now she says she needs all her strength. She lives in hiding and wants to be unreachable.
Ronaldo was also unreachable. In the past year and a half, Der Spiegel has given him several times the opportunity to give his version of the events of 2009. All attempts led to nothing. 'Any news about this would not be legal', a Ronaldo lawyer reported.
The police have had several contacts with Kathryn Mayorga over the past few weeks and have questioned her again. In Nevada, sexual violence never lapses if it is documented in time by the police.
