A few months ago, the German investigative paper DER SPIEGEL already reported about an alleged rape case involving Cristiano Ronaldo. Susan K accused Ronaldo of raping her in Las Vegas in 2009. The entire case ended with an out-of-court settlement of 350k USD. As part of the agreement, Susan K is not allowed to talk about the allegations.
How did DER SPIEGEL got to know about the case then?
DER SPIEGEL is in possession of a copy of the letter from Susan K. to Ronaldo. It is part of a trove of documents the whistleblower portal Football Leaks supplied to the newsmagazine. The letter, almost six pages long, is an angry indictment. But does K.'s depiction of events also represent the truth?
DER SPIEGEL attempted to interview Susan K., her family, her friends and her lawyer. Practically no one was willing to talk, and nobody wanted to be quoted. There are good reasons for this: Fear it will generate headlines. That the issue would bubble back to the surface. And, naturally, of the deal that was agreed to seven years ago. It stonewalls people.
The documents reviewed by DER SPIEGEL include a memorandum that details what the footballer might have once told his lawyer Osório de Castro about the night in Las Vegas. It states that Ronaldo had sex with K. That he went to bed afterward. That she went back to the Jacuzzi. And that there had been no signs that she wasn't doing well.
Was it consensual sex? Was K. playing a game later? One so good that Ronaldo's lawyers decided not to take the case to court and to settle instead? What is known is that K. did contact the police at 2:16 p.m. on the day of the alleged attack. There's a transcript of the call to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, of which DER SPIEGEL has obtained a printed copy. The computer-aided dispatch (CAD) report includes a case number that would also be cited later in the settlement between K. and Ronaldo.
The reason for the call is listed under the category "Type" in the CAD report. It's 426, the code for reported sexual offenses.
http://www.spiegel.de/international...stiano-ronaldo-rape-allegation-a-1143910.html
To these allegations, Ronaldo's team replied:
The agency of Ronaldo's adviser Jorge Mendes released a statement claiming that the story was "journalistic fiction" that was based "on documents which are unsigned and where the parties are not identified."
But DER SPIEGEL then published parts of the documents showing that those claims were wrong:
They also doubled down on information about the negotiations:
The text messages exchanged between Ronaldo and lawyer Osório de Castro, of which DER SPIEGEL is in possession, also substantiate that the football player already knew in 2010 what he had been accused of in Las Vegas -- and that he was very interested in the details of the agreement, especially the financial particularities.
Forty-seven minutes after the first SMS, Ronaldo received a second message from Las Vegas. This time, it was just a number: "950,000 dollars." It appears to be the sum that the counterparty was seeking in compensation. Ronaldo wrote back: "That's the amount?"
Osório de Castro answered: "That is the first demand: That's 660,000 euros. We won't accept it. The negotiations are continuing."
Ronaldo then asked: "Is that too much?" Osório de Castro replied: "I think so. I think we'll close this for less."
Ronaldo then demanded: "It has to be less!" His lawyer replied: "OK."
The agency of Ronaldo adviser Jorge Mendes is called Gestifute and it is headquartered in Porto, Portugal. In the firm's statement about the case in Las Vegas, released on April 14 in response to the SPIEGEL article, it seeks to discredit the presumed victim. It notes that Susan K. "refuses to come forward and confirm the veracity of the accusation."
But it's a deceitful statement because K. is prohibited from speaking out about the matter.
They also published more details on what had happened that night:
It would be easy to lay the blame at the feet of Susan K., as a woman whose sole intent was to land a famous football player. Professional players are idolized. And are there not tons of women who would love to spend a night with Ronaldo? He's an attractive man widely viewed as a sex symbol.
Susan K. did flirt with Ronaldo. She gave him her number. She went to Ronaldo's suite. The two kissed. She described all that in the letter that she wrote one year after the night in the Palm Place Hotel. When he wanted more, she said "no." When he then grabbed her, as she alleges, and forced her onto the bed in the bedroom, she claims to have said "no" again.
No means no.
In the letter to Ronaldo, Susan K. describes in detail what she claims the football player did to her. She claims that he anally raped her.
K., though, did notify the police -- on the day of the alleged crime, at 2:16 p.m. DER SPIEGEL has a copy of the transcript of the call. She permitted officers who came to her place to drive her to the University Medical Center, where she underwent a "rape kit" -- a special examination for victims of sexual assaults that entails securing any possible evidence and photographing injuries.
DER SPIEGEL is also in possession of the results of that examination. It first notes how Susan K. described the alleged sequence of events. It notes that the alleged perpetrator is a "well-known celebrity," and that she did not provide his name. Subsequently, the doctors examined the patient. They noted swelling and a "laceration" in her anal region. They gave Susan K. Zithromax and Rocephin, two antibiotics. Afterward, they sent her to Rape Crisis, a counseling center for victims of sexual assault.
http://www.spiegel.de/international...star-ronaldo-it-has-to-be-less-a-1144878.html
Now DER SPIEGEL published a third article on this story, which is only in German as of now. There they report that Ronaldo's lawyers hired private detectives, trying to disprove claims that the alleged victim is still suffering from the alleged rape. The new report also says that Ronaldo's team initially only offered 40k USD. A legal expert warned Ronaldo that his chances are 50/50 if this case went to court.
The out-of-court settlement also included a provision, which required Ronaldo's lawyer to read a letter written by Susan K to Ronaldo. The lawyer told his US colleagues that he did so, to which one of his Portuguese colleagues replied (in an email) with a single word:l "Pinocchio", implying that he didn't read it to Ronaldo.
http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/crist...ergewaltigungsopfer-beschatten-a-1150517.html
