The lawsuit claims that ex-Yankee Rivera failed to protect abused girl

NEW YORK – New York Yankees legend Mariano Rivera and his wife are accused in a lawsuit of failing to protect a young girl who was sexually abused by an older child during a summer camp trip sponsored by her church.

In a lawsuit filed this month, the girl’s lawyers allege that the Hall of Fame pitcher and his wife, Clara Rivera, a pastor at Refuge of Hope Church, flew from New York to Florida to investigate after the mother of the girl had expressed her concerns about her daughter’s safety during the 2018 trip.

But instead of taking action, the couple “isolated and intimidated” the victim into “remaining silent about her negative experiences, including abuse,” the lawsuit says.

Joseph A. Ruta, an attorney for the Riveras, said in a statement that any allegations that they were “aware of or failed to respond to reports of child abuse are completely false.” He said the couple only learned of the allegations in 2022, after a lawyer received a letter requesting a financial settlement.

“The Riveras are known throughout New York for their charitable work and especially for their commitment to underprivileged children,” Ruta said. “It is unfortunate that they are the target of false accusations.”

The lawsuit does not name the accuser, but says she was born in 2007, meaning she would have been 10 or 11 years old in 2018.

This summer, according to the complaint, Clara Rivera persuaded a parishioner to allow her daughter to attend a camp at Ignite Life Center, a church in Gainesville, Florida.

While staying in an unsupervised dormitory, the girl was repeatedly sexually abused by an older camper, according to the lawsuit. In a police report filed in 2022, the girl said there were 15 instances of inappropriate touching over a two-week period, both in her bunk and in the shower.

Although the girl did not report the abuse, her mother became concerned for her safety after the two spoke on the phone, the complaint says. The mother then described her concerns to Clara Rivera, who agreed to an investigation, according to the lawsuit.

During that trip, the couple “received information that should have concerned them,” the lawsuit says, but they instead chose silence to “avoid the potential scandal of child sexual abuse in the programs.” The lawsuit does not specifically state what the Riveras were told by the girl or her mother.

Later the girl returned to New York and continued to be actively involved in the church. But later that summer, during a barbecue for community members at the Riveras’ home in Rye, New York, she was abused again by the same person, the complaint says.

“They failed to mitigate the risks and when they learned she was a victim, they took no steps to protect her or prosecute,” said the attorney who filed the lawsuit, Adam Horowitz told The Associated Press by phone. “They were putting them at the same risk over and over again in their home.”

In 2021, the girl was sexually assaulted again, this time by a male youth leader at Refuge of Hope, the lawsuit says. The abuse in this case was discovered by the girl’s mother, who discovered months of electronic communication between the two, the lawsuit says.

The girl and her mother subsequently filed reports of the abuse in New York and Florida in 2018 and 2021. Horowitz said he did not believe criminal charges were filed in either case. The lawsuit was filed against the Refuge of Hope church, not the Riveras themselves.

Prosecutors in New York and Florida did not immediately respond to requests for comment on whether they were investigating the allegations.

An attorney for Ignite Life Center did not respond to a request for comment. The church recently settled lawsuits from three people — also represented by Horowitz — who said they were abused as teenagers by a volunteer at Ignite Life Center. Two other church members were charged with lewd and lascivious violence against minors.