Lawyer in Cristiano Ronaldo rape case to meet woman who claims to be star's ex-girlfriend
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The attorney for the woman who has accused Cristiano Ronaldo of sexual assault will travel to London to meet with the former girlfriend of the Portuguese soccer star, the law firm representing the alleged victim confirmed to multiple news outlets.
Kathryn Mayorga claimed in a lawsuit filed in September that Ronaldo sexually assaulted her and that his reps helped obstruct the criminal investigation into the incident that allegedly took place inside a Las Vegas hotel room in June 2009.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Last week, model and former “Big Brother UK” contestant Jasmine Lennard, offered to help Mayorga’s case against Ronaldo. Lennard claims she was Ronaldo’s ex-girlfriend.
“I can confirm that Leslie Mark Stovall has spoken to Ms. Leonard regarding Cristiano Ronaldo,” Larissa Drohobyczer, an attorney at Stovall & Associates, told multiple news outlets in an email. “Mr. Stovall’s travel to London England will be based upon his discussions with London lawyer Jonathan Coad and his client Jasmine Lennard.”
According to the Clark County District Court filing, Mayorga says she was in the penthouse suite at the Palms Hotel and Casino when Ronaldo entered the bathroom and pulled her into the bedroom where the assault took place. She claims she repeatedly said no but that he sodomized her and that the attack resulted in “severe emotional and bodily injuries including but not limited to anal contusions, post-traumatic stress disorder, and major depression.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Ronaldo, 33, has repeatedly denied the allegations. In October he tweeted: "I firmly deny the accusations being issued against me. Rape is an abominable crime that goes against everything that I am and believe in."
Ronaldo’s lawyers in London say he has “no specific recollection of meeting Ms. Lennard 10 years ago or at any point.”
“He has not had a relationship with her and he has not had any contact with her, whether in the last 18 months as Ms. Lennard suggests, or otherwise.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A lawyer for the Juventus forward told the Daily Mirror that Ronaldo “will take appropriate legal action in due course.”
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Juventus' Cristiano Ronaldo leaves the field at the end of a round of 16 Italian Cup soccer match between Bologna and Juventus at the Renato Dall'Ara stadium in Bologna, Italy, Saturday, Jan. 12, 2019. (AP)
Last week, The Wall Street Journal, citing an unnamed law enforcement official, initially reported that a warrant was sent to Italy that would compel Ronaldo to submit a DNA sample to see if it matches DNA found on the accuser's dress. Las Vegas police confirmed in a statement to The Associated Press that "an official request" was sent to Italy. Department spokeswoman Laura Meltzer said the request involved a warrant.
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"Mr. Ronaldo has always maintained, as he does today, that what occurred in Las Vegas in 2009 was consensual in nature," attorney Peter S. Christiansen said in a statement, "so it is not surprising that DNA would be present, nor that the police would make this very standard request as part of their investigation."