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Anthony Olivieri
Former New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera and his wife, Clara, have been added as named defendants in a civil lawsuit filed by a girl and her mother who say that, in 2018, the girl was sexually abused by an older child at events connected to the Riveras’ church in Westchester County, New York.
The lawsuit, filed in January in Westchester County Supreme Court, did not originally list the Riveras as named defendants but did accuse them of failing to protect the girl. The suit instead named Refuge of Hope — the church founded by the Riveras, where Clara Rivera is a senior pastor — and a limited liability company that included the Riveras’ former home address. They sold the home in 2022.
Adam Horowitz, an attorney for the girl, said Wednesday that the Riveras were added as named defendants in an amended court filing finalized Wednesday after it was determined they were not connected with the LLC. He said details within the lawsuit largely remain the same.
The Riveras have not been charged with any criminal wrongdoing.
Joseph A. Ruta, an attorney for the Riveras, said in a previous statement that any allegations that they knew about or failed to act on reports of child abuse “are completely false.” He said the couple learned of the allegations in 2022 after receiving a letter from an attorney requesting a financial settlement.
According to the original complaint, Clara Rivera suggested that the girl, who was a member of the Riveras’ church, attend a summer camp internship program in 2018 at an affiliated church in Florida, where the lawsuit said that children resided “without parental supervision.” Refuge of Hope paid for the girl’s expenses related to the program, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit said the girl, who was born in 2007, was “repeatedly sexually abused” by a “much older camper” while attending the program at the Ignite Life Center in Gainesville, Florida, and later at the Riveras’ home.
After a phone call from her daughter, the girl’s mother “learned information that made her concerned about [the girl’s] safety at the summer camp,” the lawsuit said.
The mother said in the lawsuit that she called Clara Rivera to relay her concern.
In response, according to the lawsuit, Clara Rivera assured the mother that she would investigate and respond. The lawsuit says the Riveras traveled to Florida to see the girl and that “each separately isolated and intimidated” her to remain silent about her experiences at the Ignite Life summer internship, including the abuse.
Later in the summer of 2018, there was a barbecue at a home owned by the Riveras in Rye, New York. According to the lawsuit, the barbecue was only for “minor children” who attended Refuge of Hope. The lawsuit said the girl was “left unsupervised” with the older child, who again abused her “by engaging in acts that would constitute a sexual offense under Article 130 of New York Penal Law.”
In 2021, the girl was again sexually assaulted, this time by a male youth leader at Refuge of Hope, according to the lawsuit. The abuse in that case was discovered by the girl’s mother, who found months of electronic communications between the two, the lawsuit contends.
Afterward, the girl and her mother filed police reports in New York and Florida regarding the abuse in 2018 and 2021.
The Associated Press reported in January that Ignite Life Center had settled lawsuits brought by three people — also represented by Horowitz — who said they were abused as teenagers by a volunteer at the church. Two others affiliated with the church have been charged with lewd and lascivious battery against minors.
Refuge of Hope was founded in 2009 by the Riveras, whose home served as a gathering space before moving to a building in New Rochelle, New York.
Mariano Rivera is a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame and considered the greatest closer of all time. He played all 19 of his seasons with the Yankees, with whom he won five World Series rings.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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