Police Investigating Ronaldo For Rape In Vegas Were Reportedly Stopped From Arresting Him

Las Vegas police investigating Manchester United striker Cristiano Ronaldo in his 2009 rape allegations were reportedly stopped from pursuing the arrest of the Portuguese star despite enough evidence, revealed newly uncovered documents.

Ronaldo has been accused of raping Kathryn Mayorga in a Las Vegas hotel room in 2009. The 37-year-old Man Utd striker firmly denied the claims saying "rape is an abominable crime that goes against everything I am and believe in."

According to the police assigned in investigating Ronaldo, they had enough evidence to arrest and charge the football star however a senior official stopped them. Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson reportedly turned down the detectives and declined to prosecute the case.

In a court transcript obtained by The Sun, Mayorga's lawyer Leslie Mark Stovall, revealed, "What happened is when that [arrest warrant] was submitted to the district attorney's office, Mr. Wolfson declined to prosecute. He doesn't say why he decided to decline and anything - any argument is just speculation. It was within the statute of limitations." The lawyer added, "The police believed that they had a case to prosecute for one count of sexual assault and the DA decided not to."

Mayorga first accused Ronaldo of raping her at the Palms Hotel and Casino on June 12, 2009. But, she refused to name her attacker, or tell police where the crime occurred, which resulted in police being unable to follow up the investigation. Then, Ronaldo’s alleged victim filed a report with Las Vegas police requesting the sexual assault investigation be reopened in August 2018, officially naming Ronaldo as her attacker.

The Las Vegas police investigated the woman’s claims despite the “passage of over nine years” and then submitted a request for prosecution to Wolfson’s office in July 2019.

Still, there are no charges filed against Ronaldo. After reviewing the police documents, Wolfson announced in July 2019 that there wasn’t enough evidence to prove Mayorga’s claim against Ronaldo beyond a reasonable doubt. "Therefore, no charges will be forthcoming," a statement from Wolfson’s office read.

Ronaldo labeled Mayorga’s claims as "fake" when police reopened their investigation in 2018. However, a year after the alleged attack at the Palms Hotel and Casino, Mayorga and the footballer reportedly reached a $375,000 ($507,000) out-of-court settlement in a civil suit but she is now seeking $75 million ($101 million) more in damages.

When asked for comment Tuesday, Audrie Locke, a Clark County District Attorney’s Office spokeswoman, told New York Post "nothing has changed" since the 2019 statement.