Mariano Rivera and wife covered sex abuse of child, claiming trial

Mariano Rivera, Hall of Fame Pitcher for New York Yankees has been accused in a trial of hiding repeated sexual assault by a minor.

Mr. Rivera, a Yankees closer in 17 seasons, and his wife, Clara Rivera, “isolated and frightened” a young girl to become silent about her abuse to avoid causing problems for a new rochelle, new, church, refuge for hope, As they helped findsaid the trial.

A trial against the church was brought in Westchester by the girl and her mother, who are not identified in legal registries to protect their privacy.

According to a civil complaint filed Wednesday describing the accusations, the girl was an active member of the Refuge of Hope, part of the wider assemblies in god religion and organization.

Adam Horowitz, the lawyer of the girl and her mother, said that Riveras had failed to keep a child in safety.

Joseph A. Ruta, the couple’s lawyer, opposed a statement on Thursday that his clients were “targeted by false allegations.”

“Mariano and Clara Rivera do not tolerate the abuse of children of any kind and accusations they knew about or could not act on reports of abuse of children, are completely false,” Mr. Ruta.

According to the suit, Ms. Rivera, a priest at the church, the girl’s mother in 2018, that the girl should attend a summer internship that runs through the Ignite Life Center, another assembly of good Church in Florida.

Refuge of Hope paid for the girl to participate in the program, which required her to stay in a dormitory with other children without custody, claims the complaint. According to court documents, the girl was repeatedly assaulted sexually by an older female motorhome who touched her genitals in the college and shower.

The girl, who was about 11 at the time, shared information that made her mother worried about her safety in the camp, says the complaint. The mother reported her concerns about Mrs. Rivera, who said she would investigate and respond accordingly, the trial said.

Ms. Rivera and her husband traveled to the camp and received information that suggested that the girl was sexually abused, the complaint says. They failed to report the claim of abuse and instead urged the girl to remain quiet to “avoid the potential scandal of sexual abuse of children in his programs,” the complaint said for hope.

They also told the girl’s mother that she was “safe and in no danger,” the complaint added. The girl returned home and resumed to attend worship services.

A lawyer for Ignite Life Center did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The girl was sexually assaulted again by the same person later that summer while he was on a barbecue in Riveras’ home in Rye, Ny, says the complaint.

About three years later, in 2021, the girl was repeatedly sexually assaulted by a church employee who worked in the Refuge of Hope as a youth leader, the complaint says. It said the employee had also forced the girl to participate in explicit communication with him for months.

Neither the church nor its employees did anything to report the abuse nor to investigate it properly, the complaint further charged.

Mr. Ruta said the first time Riveras heard about the accusations was in 2022, almost four years after the alleged abuse when a New York lawyer sent them a letter requesting a financial solution. He said the couple received another letter requesting a solution in 2023, this time from a law firm in Florida.

“The trial seeking financial damage to Riveras’ alleged failure to act on alleged events that were never reported to them is full of inaccurate and misleading statements that we have no doubt about will not hold up in a court,” Mr. .

Mr. Horowitz, the lawyer for the girl, said his client had reported the assaults to the Florida authorities, but that no arrests were made in her case. It is not clear whether the girl and her mother have ever reported the alleged assault from the youth leader to the authorities.

In December are associated companies of God’s assemblies in Florida decided three litigation The alleged similar sexual abuse of minors. Another former employee of Ignite Life Center entered into a plea for agreement In connection with charges of sexual abuse.