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Baseball Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera and his wife, Clara, denied allegations of having covered up incidents of child sexual abuse that occurred at their home and one of their church's summer camps.
“Mariano and Clara Rivera do not tolerate child abuse of any kind and allegations that they knew about or failed to act on reports of child abuse are completely false,” Joseph A. Ruta, the Riveras’ attorney, said in a statement obtained by the New York Post on Thursday (January 23). “The very first time they heard about these allegations was nearly four years after the alleged incident, when in 2022 a New York attorney sent a letter requesting a financial settlement. This was followed by a second letter in 2023, from a different Florida law firm, again requesting a financial settlement.
“The lawsuit, which seeks financial damages for the Riveras’ alleged failure to act on alleged incidents that were never reported to them, is full of inaccurate and misleading statements which we have no doubt will not hold up in a court of law.”
Rivera, 55, Major League Baseball's all-time leader in saves and the only unanimous Hall of Fame inductee in history, and his wife are not defendants, however, are both named repeatedly in the court documents, which were reportedly filed in New York this month. The mother of the victim, identified as Mother A Doe, claims that her teenage daughter, identified as Jane A Doe, was convinced to travel to Florida for an internship put on by her Refuge of Hope Church was helping put on in 2018.
Jane A Doe was allegedly sexually abused by a "much older camper," who was identified as 'MG.' Mother A Doe said she learned about the possibility of her daughter being abused and notified Clara, who assured her she'd investigate the situation but, according to documents, when she and Mariano arrived at the camp they "each separately isolated and intimated Jane A Doe to remain silent" in order to protect their church and the affiliated summer program it was putting on.
Mother A Doe claims the Riveras then assured her that everything was fine "despite actual or constructive knowledge that Jane A Doe remained vulnerable to the additional acts of sexual abuse by MG," the lawsuit states via TMZ Sports.
Mother A Doe claims her daughter was sexually abused by MG once again at a barbecue at the Riveras' home in New York, claiming the couple and others "took no action" to protect the victim from her abuser. Jane A Doe was later sexually abused by a male adult who was working as a youth leader for the Riveras' Refuge of Hope in 2021 and church representatives once again avoiding taking proper steps to ensure her safety, according to her mother.
Rivera spent his entire career with the New York Yankees and is widely regarded as the greatest closer in baseball history. The Panama native is a five-time World Series champion, which includes winning the 1999 World Series MVP award, as well as a 13-time All-Star, a five-time American League Rolaids Relief Man award winner, a three-time Delivery Man of the Year, a three-time MLB saves leader and the 2003 American League Championship Series MVP.