International soccer icon Cristiano Ronaldo is actively denying a rape allegation made against him stemming from a 2009 incident in Las Vegas.
“Rape is an abominable crime that goes against everything that I am and believe in,” the 33-year-old Juventus player said of the accusation, according to TMZ.
The alleged victim, Kathryn Mayorga, is suing Ronaldo for his actions at The Palms hotel in June 2009. Mayorga claims she met Ronaldo at Rain Nightclub in the hotel before the Portuguese star invited her back to his suite.
Pictures have emerged of the two dancing together at the nightclub.
First images of Cristiano Ronaldo dancing with rape accuser hours before alleged attack https://t.co/gJ0u7PKk0H pic.twitter.com/dTcC6Kx2Pu
— The Sun Football (@TheSunFootball) October 2, 2018
Mayorga says that she was changing her clothes in Ronaldo’s bathroom when “he entered the room, exposed his erect penis and asked [her] to perform fellatio.”
Mayorga claims that despite her refusal, Ronaldo persisted and pulled her onto a bed, attempting to engage in sexual intercourse. She says that she tried to fend him off, but Ronaldo turned her onto her side and sodomized her while she screamed “no” multiple times.
Below is Ronaldo’s full statement regarding the accusation:
Cristiano Ronaldo has “firmly denied” the rape accusations made by Kathryn Mayorga, the woman who has filed a civil case against the Juventus forward.
Read: https://t.co/dWt7Djiong pic.twitter.com/hUoKdqb0SX
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) October 3, 2018
In the lawsuit, Mayorga says that while she reported the incident to the Las Vegas Metro Police Dept., she neglected to mention the then-Manchester United star’s name due to fear of retaliation.
The LVMPD has now reopened the investigation, but Ronaldo is yet to be charged with a crime.