Lawsuit alleging sex assault by Christiano Ronaldo refiled in federal court

One of two lawsuits accusing international soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo of obstructing the criminal investigation into claims of sexual assault in Las Vegas has been dismissed, but an identical lawsuit in federal court remains active.

Larissa Drohobyczer, one of the attorney’s representing the plaintiff in the lawsuits, said the Clark County District Court case was dismissed because she filed identical claims in federal court.

“We basically just switched venues but the claims and lawsuit still remain,” Drohobyczer said via email on Wednesday.

Earlier, the Clark County District Court public information officer posted on Twitter that a notice of voluntary dismissal of that case was filed last month in Las Vegas.

That lawsuit was filed in September on behalf of Kathryn Mayorga, who alleged in the complaint that she agreed to settle with Ronaldo after he sexually assaulted her in a Las Vegas hotel room on June 13, 2009. The complaint said the settlement was the result of Ronaldo and others threatening to falsely and publicly implicate Mayorga by accusing her of making a false accusation to obtain money from Ronaldo.

The lawsuit was later refiled in federal court in order to use the federal service rules on foreign defendants, Drohobyczer said.

Drohobyczer said the federal court extended the time to serve the summons and the complaint. She said they are now waiting on confirmation from the Italian government of service of the summons and complaint against Ronaldo.

Las Vegas police reopened an investigation into the sexual assault and requested DNA in January from Ronaldo, a Portuguese soccer superstar who currently plays for the Italian Juventus club. The Metropolitan Police Department said on Wednesday the criminal investigation into the sexual assault allegations is ongoing.

Ronaldo’s Las Vegas lawyer, Peter Christiansen, did not respond to requests for comment on Wednesday.

Contact Rachel Spacek at 702-387-2921 or rspacek@reviewjournal.com. Follow @RachelSpacek on Twitter.