Hall of Fame closer Mariano Rivera and his wife, Clara, have denied allegations of covering up sexual assault of a child stemming from a lawsuit filed by a teenage girl, identified as Jane Doe. The complaint alleges Jane Doe was sexually abused multiple times at an event connected to a church where Clara Rivera is a senior pastor. One of the assaults is alleged to have taken place at a function held at the Rivera’s primary residence in Rye, New York.
“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 Ruta, the Riveras’ attorney, said in a statement to USA Today. “… 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.”
The Riveras own and operate a church and LLC, through which they own their primary residence, known as Refugio de Esperanza (“Refuge of Hope”). They have a longstanding partnership with Ignite Life Center, a church in Gainesville, Fla. The Ignite Life Center is embroiled in a sexual abuse scandal in which three people have been arrested for assaulting minors at a camp/internship program. The complaint alleges Jane Doe was sexually abused at Ignite Life Center by a camp attendee identified as MG. Jane Doe was again sexually assaulted by MG during a barbeque for church members at Rivera’s residence in New York, according to the lawsuit.
Refugio de Esperanza and 1 Brook View Rye LLC are named as defendants in the complaint, though the Riveras are not named specifically. The complaint alleges the church failed to protect Jane Doe, and that the Riveras “isolated and intimidated” the girl to remain silent. The lawsuit says their actions were “consistent with an established and ongoing modus operandi by DEFENDANTS to handle allegations of sexual abuse internally so to avoid scrutiny, public scandal, and potential financial losses from allegations of child sexual abuse becoming public information.”
The full complaint can be read here. Here is more from the lawsuit:
“Ms. Rivera and her husband, Refuge of Hope employee/volunteer/agent Mariano Rivera, then traveled from New York to Florida to see Jane Doe at the Ignite Life Summer Internship. During that trip, the Riveras, in their capacity as agents for defendants, learned or should have learned information that Jane Doe was being sexually abused by MG. Rather than take sufficient action to end the sexual abuse of Jane Doe, the Riveras each separately isolated and intimidated Jane Doe to remain silent about her abuse by MG to avoid causing trouble for Refuge of Hope and the Ignite Life Summer Internship.”
…
“At all times relevant DEFENDANTS had a superior knowledge of the risk of harm that JANE A DOE would be sexually abused in their care and failed to inform JANE A DOE and/or her parents of their superior knowledge of the risk of harm to JANE A DOE.
“To the contrary, DEFENDANTS misrepresented to JANE A DOE and her parents that JANE A DOE was safe and sufficiently cared for while in the care and/or presence of DEFENDANTS.”
Jane Doe and her family were members of Refugio de Esperanza. The lawsuit alleges Clara Rivera suggested in or around 2018 that Jane Doe, who was around 11 at the time, work a summer internship at Ignite Life Center, with Refugio de Esperanza covering the expenses. The internship included residence at Ignite Life Center, where there was no parental supervision. During that internship, according to the lawsuit, MG “repeatedly” assaulted Jane Doe, who was only allowed to call her parents “sporadically.”
The complaint was filed Jan. 16 and gives the defendants 20 days to respond to the summons. The complaint seeks a jury trial that would determine monetary damages. Although the Riveras are not named as a defendant, New York State law states that landowners are responsible for actions on their property.
Rivera, 55, played the entirety of his career with the New York Yankees. He is the all-time leader with 652 saves and was unanimously voted into the Hall of Fame in 2019.
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