NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Mariano Rivera, who spent his entire storied MLB career with the New York Yankees, has been added as a defendant in a lawsuit. Rivera’s wife, Clara Rivera, was also listed as a defendant in an amended sexual abuse suit filed by an unnamed girl and her mother.
USA Today Sports obtained a copy of the new complaint after it was filed in Westchester County Court April 25.
The original lawsuit, filed in January, alleged the young girl was victimized by an older individual during events linked to the church the Riveras co-founded.
The church is located in Westchester County, New York, and Clara was listed as a senior pastor.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM
Baseball Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera delivers remarks during the ribbon cutting for the Mariano Rivera Foundation Mentorship Program at the Ignite Life Center in Gainesville Fla. June 2, 2021. (Brad McClenny/The Gainesville Sun via Imagn Content Services, LLC)
The Riveras were not named defendants in the initial filing. Instead, the church, Refuge of Hope, and Brook View Rye, LLC were listed as defendants. The limited liability company lists the address of the Riveras’ former home, which they sold in 2022.
MARIANO RIVERA, WIFE BREAK SILENCE AFTER BEING ACCUSED OF COVERING UP CHILD SEX ABUSE
In the previous filing, the Riveras were accused of taking inadequate measures to protect the girl listed as Jane Doe in the complaint. The complaint alleges an assault occurred in “approximately summer 2018” at a New York home the Riveras’ owned at the time.
According to the lawsuit, the alleged abuse happened at a barbecue that children who attended the church were invited to. However, the attending children’s parents did not receive invitations, according to the suit.
Former New York Yankees pitcher and Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera with his wife Clara Rivera at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, N.Y., Aug. 17, 2019. (Wendell Cruz/USA Today Sports)
The amended suit’s details were consistent with the initial filing. In both filings, the Riveras allegedly disregarded the girl’s claims of sexual abuse and “isolated and intimidated” her in an effort to ensure she remained quiet about the alleged incident.
“Rather than take sufficient action to end the sexual abuse of JANE A DOE, the Riveras each separately isolated and intimidated JANE A DOE to remain silent about her abuse to avoid causing trouble for REFUGIO and the Ignite Life Summer Internship,” the lawsuit states.
“In order to avoid the potential scandal of child sexual abuse in its programs and otherwise protect DEFENDANTS above all else, the Riveras, in their capacities as agents and/or employees of 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 additional acts of sexual abuse.”
Former New York Yankee Mariano Rivera, a 2019 National Baseball Hall of Fame inductee, acknowledges the crowd as he stands next to his Hall of Fame plaque during a ceremony in his honor at Yankee Stadium Aug. 17, 2019, in New York City. (Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
Joseph A. Ruta, an attorney representing the Riveras, said the allegations against his clients are “completely false.”
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The plaintiff is seeking a jury trial and compensatory and punitive damages.
Rivera, 55, is a five-time World Series champion and a 13-time MLB All-Star. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2019.
Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.