Source: Jim McIsaac / Getty
Former New York Yankee Mariano Rivera has remained out of the news for most of his post-MLB career, but now some alarming allegations have been thrown at him.
According to a lawsuit obtained by the New York Times, the Hall of Famer and his wife Clara have been accused of hiding the sexual assault of a minor in their home and at one of their church’s summer camps.
It’s important to note that the married couple are not named as defendants in the suit but are mentioned several times throughout.
The suit claims that they “isolated and intimidated” a young girl into staying quiet about the abuse she faced at the New Rochelle church they founded, Refuge of Hope, to avoid unwanted friction.
The 22-page document doesn’t name the young girl but mentions she was born in 2007, was a church member, and regularly attended. That’s when an older camper sexually abused the 11-year-old “in the camp’s dormitory and shower by fondling and penetrating JANE DOE’s breasts, buttocks and genitals.”
Doe eventually told her mother about the alleged abuse, and she got in touch with Clara, who promised to investigate the matter. But when the Riveras traveled from New York to Florida, instead of trying to get to the bottom of the situation, they each took her into separate rooms alone to isolate and intimidate her “to remain silent about her negative experiences at the summer internship, including her abuse…to avoid causing trouble for [defendant] and the Ignite Life Summer Internship.”
The Rivereas assured the mother that she was “safe and in no harm,” only for her to be sexually assaulted by the same person that summer when attending a BBQ at the Rivera’s home.
Other accusations include the assault continuing three years later in 2021, when a grown man who worked as a youth leader for the church forced her to text her graphically for several months until her mother found out. He then fessed up, and the suit states he had a habit of doing similar inappropriate activities with other children in the church’s community.
Mariano and his wife have not publicly responded to the allegations, but social media is disgusted.
