NEW YORK — New York Yankees legend Mariano Rivera and his spouse are accused in a lawsuit of failing to guard a younger woman who was was sexually abused by an older baby throughout a summer time camp journey sponsored by their church.
In a lawsuit filed this month, legal professionals for the woman allege that the Corridor of Fame pitcher and his spouse Clara Rivera, a pastor on the Refuge of Hope Church, flew from New York to Florida to analyze after the woman’s mom expressed considerations about her daughter’s security in the course of the 2018 journey.
However fairly than take motion, the couple “remoted and intimidated” the sufferer into remaining “silent about her adverse experiences,” together with the abuse, the lawsuit says.
Joseph A. Ruta, an legal professional for the Riveras, mentioned in an announcement that any allegations that they “knew about or did not act on reviews of kid abuse are utterly false.” He mentioned the couple solely discovered of the allegations in 2022 after receiving a letter from an legal professional requesting a monetary settlement.
“The Riveras are recognized all through New York for his or her charitable work and particularly for his or her dedication to serving underprivileged youngsters,” Ruta mentioned. “It’s unlucky they’re being focused by false allegations.”
The lawsuit doesn’t title the accuser, however it says she was born in 2007, which might have made her 10 or 11 years outdated in 2018.
That summer time, in line with the criticism, Clara Rivera persuaded a congregant to permit her daughter to attend a camp on the Ignite Life Middle, a church in Gainesville, Florida.
Whereas staying in an unsupervised dorm room, the woman was repeatedly sexually abused by an older feminine camper, in line with the go well with. In a police report filed in 2022, the woman mentioned there have been 15 situations of inappropriate touching over a two-week interval, each in her bunk and a bathe.
Although the woman didn’t report the abuse, her mom grew anxious about her security after the 2 spoke on the telephone name, the criticism states. The mom then outlined her considerations to Clara Rivera, who agreed to analyze, in line with the go well with.
Throughout that journey, the couple “acquired data that ought to have given them concern,” the lawsuit says, however selected as a substitute to stay silent to “keep away from the potential scandal of kid sexual abuse in its applications.” The go well with doesn’t particularly state what the Riveras have been instructed by the woman or her mom.
The woman later returned to New York and continued her lively participation within the church. However later that summer time, throughout a barbecue for congregants on the Riveras’ residence in Rye, New York, she was once more abused by the identical individual, the criticism states.
“They did not mitigate the dangers, and upon studying that she had been a sufferer, took no steps to guard her or get legal justice,” the legal professional who filed the lawsuit, Adam Horowitz, instructed The Related Press by telephone. “They continued to reveal her once more to the identical threat at her residence.”
In 2021, the woman was once more sexually assaulted, this time by a male youth chief at Refuge of Hope, in line with the lawsuit. The abuse in that case was found by the woman’s mom, who discovered months of digital communications between the 2, the lawsuit contends.
Afterward, the woman and her mom filed police reviews in New York and Florida concerning the abuse in 2018 and 2021. Horowitz mentioned he didn’t imagine that legal costs have been introduced in any of the instances. The lawsuit was filed towards the Refuge of Hope church, not towards the Riveras themselves.
Prosecutors in New York and Florida didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark about whether or not they appeared into the allegations.
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A lawyer for Ignite Life Middle didn’t reply to an inquiry. The church recently settled lawsuits introduced by three individuals — additionally represented by Horowitz — who mentioned they have been abused as youngsters by a volunteer at Ignite Life Middle. Two others affiliated with the church have been charged with lewd and lascivious battery towards minors.
