A warrant has been issued in Las Vegas to obtain a DNA sample from soccer megastar Cristiano Ronaldo to determine whether it matches genetic material found on a dress of a woman who accused him of raping her in 2009.
A law enforcement official with knowledge of the case told the Wall Street Journal that authorities in Sin City recently sent the warrant to court officials in Italy, where the 33-year-old currently plays for Juventus.
The investigation was reopened by police in Las Vegas last fall after the woman, Kathryn Mayorga, went public with the allegations in September, claiming Ronaldo — then 24 — raped her in a hotel there after a night of clubbing. The soccer star allegedly paid the American model-turned-teacher hush money to the tune of $375,000, but Mayorga said she later reconsidered in an attempt to expose the Portuguese striker.
Ronaldo, for his part, has “firmly” denied the allegations, claiming his encounter with Mayorga was consensual.
“Rape is an abominable crime that goes against everything that I am and believe in,” he tweeted in October. “Keen as I may be to clear my name, I refused to feed the media spectacle created by people seeking to promote themselves at my expense.”
But Ronaldo, according to court papers filed by Mayorga, apologized to her after the alleged attack, telling her, “Sorry, I’m usually a gentleman.”
Peter Christiansen, an attorney for Ronaldo, declined to comment Wednesday regarding the Las Vegas warrant. An attorney for Mayorga and a police spokesperson in Las Vegas also did not respond to requests seeking comment, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Investigators in Las Vegas found DNA on Mayorga’s dress belonging to someone else, the law enforcement official confirmed to the newspaper. Once the warrant is served in Italy, authorities there are expected to obtain a sample of Ronado’s DNA before shipping it to police in Las Vegas.
Authorities in Las Vegas would then determine whether it matches genetic material found on Mayorga’s dress.
Separately, an English model and actress accused Ronaldo on Monday of being a “psychopath” who emotionally abused her during their relationship and threatened to have her killed.
Ronaldo “told me if I dated anyone else or if I left my house he’d have me kidnapped and have my body cut up and put in a bag and thrown in a river,” Jasmine Lennard wrote in a series of since-deleted tweets. “He’s a psychopath.”