Mariano Rivera and his wife accused in trial of covering up sexual abuse

Teenager seeks compensatory and punitive damages after claiming she was repeatedly sexually assaulted at church-related events Clara Rivera, wife of New York Yankees Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera, is the senior pastor.

Additionally, the plaintiff alleges that one of the assaults occurred during a religious function held at the Riveras’ primary residence in Rye, New York.

A complaint filed in Westchester County Court names Refugio de Esperanza, a house of worship in New Rochelle, and 1 Brook View Rye, LLC, as defendants. The Riveras are not named as defendants, but 1 Brook View Rye was the address of their primary residence, according to the complaint, and the church’s website says the church was founded in the Riveras’ home in 2009 .

The suit alleges that the Church failed to protect the plaintiff — who requested anonymity — from foreseeable harm and to take corrective action, and that in one case the Riveras “isolated and intimidated » the complainant to keep silent regarding an alleged assault.

In a statement released to USA TODAY Sports, the Riveras’ attorney, Joseph A. Ruta, called the allegations “completely false.”

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“Mariano and Clara Rivera do not tolerate any form of child abuse and allegations that they knew about or failed to act on reports of child abuse are completely false,” Ruta said in the statement. The couple first learned of the allegations was nearly four years after the alleged incident, when they received a letter from an attorney seeking a financial settlement, Ruta said.

“The lawsuit, which seeks financial damages for the Riveras’ alleged failure to respond to alleged incidents that were never reported to them, is full of inaccurate and misleading statements that we are confident cannot not be held in court,” Ruta said. said.

The suit, filed Jan. 16 and obtained by USA TODAY Sports, gives the defendants 20 days to respond to service of the summons; The plaintiffs are seeking a jury trial, during which the amount of damages would be determined. The associated LLC, not the Riveras, is listed as a defendant in part because New York law says landowners are responsible for actions on their property.

The lawsuit was first reported by Gainesville Public Information Services.

The suit alleges that Clara Rivera, in her role as pastor, suggested that the defendant — identified as Jane A. Doe — complete a summer internship in 2018 at a church in Gainesville, Fla., affiliated with Refugio de Esperanza, the Refugio covering expenses.

The complaint alleges that the interns — the plaintiff was approximately 11 years old at the time — were required to reside at Ignite Life Church in Gainesville without parental supervision for the duration of the internship. It is there that the complainant alleges that she was sexually assaulted on several occasions by a much older teenage girl, who was still a minor at the time.

The suit claims campers were only allowed to have sporadic phone contact with their parents, but during one call, the alleged victim’s mother expressed concern for her daughter’s well-being.

“In response, Ms. Rivera assured MOTHER A DOE that she would investigate MOTHER A DOE’s report and respond accordingly,” the suit claims. “MS. Rivera and her husband, REFUGIO employee/volunteer/agent Mariano Rivera, then traveled from New York to Florida to see JANE A DOE at the Ignite Life summer internship. During this trip, the Riveras , in their capacity as agents of DEFENDANTS, learned or should have learned that JANE A DOE was being sexually assaulted by (the older camper).

“Rather than taking sufficient action to stop JANE A DOE’s sexual abuse, the Riveras isolated each separately and told JANE A DOE to remain silent about her abuse… to avoid causing problems for REFUGIO and the Ignite Life summer internship. In order to avoid the potential scandal of child sexual abuse in its programs and to protect the DEFENDANTS above all else, the Riveras, in their capacity as agents and/or employees of the DEFENDANTS, assured MOTHER A DOE that JANE A DOE was safe and in no danger at Ignite Life Center, despite actual or constructive knowledge that JANE A DOE remained vulnerable to further acts of sexual abuse.

Three men were charged and two convicted of sex crimes at the Ignite Life center, including Gabriel Giovani Hemenez, who was 29 when he pleaded no contest to two counts of lewd acts with a minor – a trainee d summer – ages 12 to 16. ; Hemenez was sentenced to five years in prison and eight years of probation. Another man pleaded no contest to aggravated assault charges and received three years’ probation.

The plaintiff and her family were longtime members of the Refugio de Esperanza and after the alleged victim returned to New York, the family resumed worship at the Refugio.

Later that summer, according to the complaint, the church held a barbecue at Rivera’s Rye, New York, residence for minor church members. “Parents, including but not limited to MOTHER A DOE,” the suit claims, “were not invited to attend the event.”

The suit alleges that the plaintiff was left alone with the same teenage church member and then sexually assaulted by him again.

“At all relevant times,” the suit claims, “DEFENDANTS had superior knowledge of the risk of harm that JANE A DOE would be sexually assaulted in their custody and failed to inform JANE A DOE and/or her parents of their superior knowledge of the risk of harm to JANE A DOE. 37.

“To the contrary, DEFENDANTS falsely represented to JANE A DOE and her parents that JANE A DOE was safe and adequately cared for while in DEFENDANTS’ custody and/or presence.”

About a month later, in August 2021, the lawsuit alleges that the plaintiff was sexually assaulted by a church youth adult leader after the man “groomed himself and exhibited behaviors that signaled risk.” that he sexually abused JANE A DOE. The grooming and “red flag” behaviors occurred while both men were attending REFUGIO events and/or on premises owned, operated and/or controlled by REFUGIO.

According to the suit, these allegations would be considered sexual offenses under New York law.

The gist of Plaintiff’s claims is similar in both alleged cases: that Refugio, “by and through its respective agents, managers, employees and directors, knew, or should have known, in the exercise of reasonable care, that (the employee) had a propensity to engage in sexual misconduct with children he encountered due to his leadership role within REFUGIO prior to 2021, but they took no action to protect the minor JANE A DOE of him.

Rivera, 55, remains the only player in major league history unanimously elected to the Hall of Fame and the sport’s all-time leader. He was the closest of five Yankees World Series championship teams, his career spanning from 1995 to 2013, when he retired with great fanfare.

The plaintiff, now 17, and her family moved to Georgia in 2022

“I commend our young client for her courage and commitment to the truth,” Adam Horowitz, one of the plaintiff’s attorneys, said in a statement. “We thank her for sounding the alarm about a potentially dangerous environment for children. Our lawsuit alleges that Mariano and Clara Rivera had a duty to protect our client and missed the opportunity to save her from the harm of abuse sex on children.

The Riveras’ attorney said, “The Riveras are known throughout New York for their charitable work and in particular for their commitment to serving underprivileged children. It is unfortunate that they are the target of false allegations.”

Contributor: Tom Schad

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