Rape is an abominable crime that goes against everything that I am and believe in, he said.
Cristiano
Ronaldo on Wednesday denied accusations by a former American
model that he raped her in a Las Vegas hotel in 2009 and said his
conscience is clear.
But
lawyers for his accuser Kathryn
Mayorga later hit back, saying their client had been "very
consistent" in her reporting of the incident.
The
case has threatened to tarnish the reputation of the Portuguese
superstar, arguably the world's best footballer.
"I
firmly deny the accusations being issued against me," he tweeted
in Portuguese and English.
"Rape
is an abominable crime that goes against everything that I am and
believe in," said the 33-year-old Juventus forward.
"Keen
as I may be to clear my name I refuse to feed the media spectacle
created by people seeking to promote themselves at my expense,"
Ronaldo said.
"My
clear conscious (sic) will thereby allow me to await with
tranquillity the results of any and all investigations," he
added on his Twitter feed @Cristiano, which has nearly 75 million
followers.
Mayorga,
34, of Las Vegas, accused Ronaldo, in a 32-page complaint filed last
month with a district court in Nevada, of raping her on June 13,
2009.
Las
Vegas police this week said they were reopening a case filed on that
date but did not identify the victim or the alleged perpetrator by
name.(Business
Standard)
Mayorga's
lawyers held a news conference in Las Vegas to discuss the case.
Attorney
Leslie Stovall told reporters his client, who had suffered years of
trauma as a result of the alleged attack, had found the courage to
speak out thanks to the #MeToo movement against sexual harassment and
assault at the hands of powerful men.
"The
MeToo movement and the women who have stood up and disclosed sexual
assaults has given Kathryn a lot of courage, and has enabled her to
come forward," he said.
Stovall
argued that in the context of the case, the statute of limitations on
both criminal and civil action should be set aside.
