The former player, New York Yankees star, Mariano Rivera, has been involved in controversy after being accused, along with his wife Clara, of covering up child sexual abuse in their home and church.
PUBLICIDAD
The Yankees Hall of Famer, who is also a pastor at the 'Refuge of Hope' church in New Rochelle, New York, was accused along with his wife in a lawsuit filed in New York on Thursday, January 16.
PUBLICIDAD
What is Mariano Rivera, former star of the New York Yankees, accused of?
According to the complaint filed in the Westchester County Supreme Court and obtained by Us Weekly, the Riveras covered up the abuse of a girl linked to their church, where Mariano is the lead pastor and Clara is in charge of its daily operations.
In the lawsuit, they are accused of being negligent after discovering that the young woman (known as "Jane Doe") was allegedly being abused by another young girl (known as "MG") and did not take action after the discovery.
The alleged abuse occurred during a summer internship in 2018 at the Ignite Life Center in Gainesville, Florida, a program supported by the Refuge of Hope church. According to the complaint, Clara encouraged the plaintiff to participate in the internship, suggesting it to her mother. The plaintiff's mother became concerned about her daughter's safety at the camp after receiving phone calls from the plaintiff, which she raised with Clara, who assured Jane Doe's mother that she would investigate further, according to the complaint.
According to the allegations in the complaint, the Riveras traveled from New York to the summer camp in Florida, where they "learned or should have learned information" about sexual abuse.
The complaint states: "Instead of taking sufficient measures to end the sexual abuse of Jane Doe (the victim), the Riveras, separately, isolated and intimidated Jane Doe to keep her silent about her abuse by MG (the suspect) to avoid causing trouble for Refuge of Hope and the Ignite Life Summer Internship.”.
The alleged abuse continued later at a barbecue at the couple's former home in Rye, N.Y., after Jane Doe's return from summer camp, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit claims that the couple invited children from the church to the barbecue where Jane Doe was left unsupervised with MG despite previous incidents that allegedly occurred at the summer camp in Florida. Supposedly, the parents of the children, including Jane Doe's mother, were not invited to the barbecue.
The complaint states that the Riveras did not take appropriate measures and chose to handle it internally to "avoid scrutiny, public scandal, and potential financial losses from accusations of child sexual abuse becoming public."
Ruben Tavarez Jr., the adult son of Refuge of Hope’s associate pastor, Ruben Tavarez Sr., is also accused in the lawsuit of abusing the girl in August 2021.