Ex-Yankees Pitcher Mariano Rivera, Wife Deny Covering Up Repeated Sexual Assaults of Minor After Being Named in Lawsuit

Mariano Rivera, the Hall of Fame pitcher for the New York Yankees, has been accused in a lawsuit of concealing repeated sexual assaults of a minor. Mr. Rivera, a Yankees closer for 17 seasons, and his wife, Clara Rivera, “isolated and intimidated” a young girl into staying silent about her abuse to avoid causing trouble for a New Rochelle, N.Y., church, Refuge of Hope, which they helped found, the lawsuit said. A lawsuit against the church was filed in Westchester by the girl and her mother, who are not identified in court records in order to protect their privacy. According to a civil complaint filed on Wednesday that details the accusations, the girl was an active member of Refuge of Hope, part of the broader Assemblies of God religion and organization.

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."

In the lawsuit, a woman identified as "Jane Doe" said she was sexually abused by an older girl known as "MG" during a summer internship in 2018. MG was a minor at the time of the alleged incidents. The internship took place at the Ignite Life Center in Gainesville, Florida, which was affiliated with Rivera's church. The suit said that the alleged victim's mother informed Clara of the abuse and that Clara promised to investigate the matter. However, they allegedly covered it up. "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," the suit read. The suit also alleged that MG abused the victim at the Rivera residence in Rye, New York, that summer during a barbecue.