Ronaldo denies rape claim as police reopen investigation

LOS ANGELES, Oct 02 (AFP): Police said Monday they had reopened an investigation into a rape accusation made by a former model who says soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo attacked her in his Las Vegas hotel penthouse suite in 2009.

Ronaldo, who now plays for Juventus in Italy's Serie A, rejected the charges as "fake news" during a live chat on Instagram.

"What they said today, fake -- fake news," the 33-year-old star of the Portuguese national team said in a post that was later deleted. Kathryn Mayorga, 34, of Las Vegas, accused Ronaldo, in a 32-page complaint filed last month with a district court in Nevada, of raping her on June 13, 2009.

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department confirmed in a statement that didn't name the superstar it had responded to a call of a sexual assault on that date.

"At the time the report was taken, the victim did not provide detectives with the location of the incident or suspect description. A medical exam was conducted," it said.

Mayorga alleges in the lawsuit that she was pressured into signing a nondisclosure agreement to keep the alleged rape secret and is seeking no less than $200,000 in penalties and damages.