A lawsuit charges that the Yankees star and his wife, Clara, failed to act when they became aware that a young girl had been assaulted at a program affiliated with their church.
A lawsuit charges that the Yankees star and his wife, Clara, failed to act when they became aware that a young girl had been assaulted at a program affiliated with their church.
A lawsuit charges that the Yankees star and his wife, Clara, failed to act when they became aware that a young girl had been assaulted at a program affiliated with their church.
Good morning. It’s Friday. We’ll look at a lawsuit that accuses Mariano Rivera, the Yankees Hall of Famer, and his wife of covering up the sexual abuse of a minor.
Mariano Rivera, a 17-season closer for the Yankees, and his wife, Clara, were accused in a lawsuit of failing to protect a young girl by reporting sexual abuse that she had endured and that they knew about. The lawsuit was filed in Westchester County, N.Y., on behalf of the girl and her mother, whose identities were concealed for their privacy.
Joseph A. Ruta, the Riveras’ lawyer, strongly denied the allegations in a statement on Thursday.
“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,” the statement said.
The suit says that the girl was an active member of the Refuge for Hope Church in New Rochelle, N.Y., which the Riveras helped found and where Clara Rivera was a pastor.
In 2018, Clara Rivera advised the girl’s mother that she should send her daughter to a summer internship program operated by a sister church in Gainesville, Fla., called the Ignite Life Center, according to the suit. The Ignite Life Center and Refuge of Hope churches are part of the broader Assemblies of God denomination and organization.