The return of Cristiano Ronaldo to England has monopolized the market news of the last few days, almost as if the Portuguese champion had wanted to respond in kind to the great – and inevitable – clamor aroused by the passage of Messi to PSG. Ronaldo returning to Manchester United is global news, which inevitably reactivates an infinity of old subplots to be recovered, updated, and unfortunately not all of them tell stories of sporting achievements, or happy memories. In the case of Ronaldo, for example, there is the investigation into the alleged sexual violence perpetrated on Kathryn Mayorga, an American model known in 2009 in a Las Vegas hotel. The Times, one of the most authoritative British newspapers, published an article in which he summarized the fundamental points of the story, and anticipated what could happen in the coming months. The case, in fact, is not yet closed.
It all started in 2018, a few weeks after Ronaldo’s transfer to Juventus: in an exclusive article published by The mirror, Kathryn Mayorga claims that Ronaldo forced her into non-consensual intercourse in a hotel room. The facts date back to June 2009. The reconstruction of the German newspaper reports how Ronaldo, 24 at the time of the facts, had paid Mayorga a sum of just over 300 thousand euros to sign an out-of-court agreement that provided for a non-disclosure clause. Later, however, Mayorga has argued on multiple occasions that she was not in the best mental condition to sign such an agreement, which would somehow void it – and also cause him much suffering.
In September 2018, the Las Vegas Police Department announced the reopening of the case, confirming that it had launched an investigation into Ronaldo’s alleged violence following a filed in June 2009; at the time, however, no confirmation was found. A few months later, also thanks to the collaboration of the Italian authorities, they come into possession of a DNA sample of Ronaldo. In July 2019, Las Vegas prosecutors announced that Ronaldo would not be tried as the allegations against him “could not be proved and confirmed beyond a reasonable doubt”. Since then, however, the legal battle has continued: according to what was reported by the Times, Mayorga meanwhile has filed a civil suit for damages, requesting a sum of up to 56.5 million pounds because of “the pain and suffering experienced as a result of the violence suffered”; at the same time, Ronaldo’s lawyers asked to dismiss the case, claiming that Mayorga’s lawyers presented stolen documents. They’re all waiting for Jennifer Dorsey, the Nevada District Judge, to rule that Mayorga “was mentally capable of signing the confidentiality agreement she reached with Ronaldo’s lawyers,” and if so, the investigation could be redressed. . The date of the hearing in question has not yet been set.
