A U.S. court dismissed a lawsuit by model Catherine Mayorga against Portuguese national team and English club Manchester United player Cristiano Ronaldo in a rape case. This was reported June 11 by the Associated Press.
According to District Judge Jennifer Dorsey in Las Vegas, the suit was dismissed because the model’s lawyer, Leslie Mark Stovall, used “stolen” confidential documents during the process. They refer to a 2017 publication in Der Spiegel magazine, whose journalists, relying on material provided by sources, revealed that Ronaldo allegedly raped Mayorga at a Las Vegas hotel in 2009.
“I find that the purchase and continued use of these documents was unconscionable,” the judge ruled in her verdict.
Mayorga’s lawsuit is civil, which means she is only entitled to seek monetary compensation from the soccer player, but cannot seek criminal prosecution against him. The woman said she has already received $375,000 compensation from the famous athlete, but then tried to prove that she was unable to understand the terms of the non-disclosure agreement. And further, according to media reports, has already tried to get from the Portuguese £56.5 million, or about $ 79 million.
In 2010, Ronaldo’s lawyers reached an agreement with the model for monetary compensation in exchange for no claims after an intimate relationship with him in a hotel in Las Vegas. Both figures admit there was intimacy between them, but Mayorga claims rape and Ronaldo vehemently denies it.
On May 12, it was reported that the Portuguese footballer was in the top 10 highest-paid athletes in the world, closing the top three with earnings of $ 115 million a year.