Mariano Rivera and his wife, Clara Rivera, have been accused of hiding incidents of child sexual abuse that occurred at a Christian summer camp associated with their church and in their own house.
On Thursday, January 16, a complaint was filed in the New York Supreme Court, which PEOPLE has received. The case alleges that the New York Yankees Hall of Famer, who is 55 years old, ignored the sexual assault of a young girl who was a member of his Refuge of Hope Church in Westchester County, New York.
The lawsuit identifies the juvenile, who was born in 2007, as Jane Doe. The person who is accused of abusing her is also a child, but older than Jane Doe, and is referred to as “MG.”
It is claimed that the assault occurred at the Ignite Life Center in Gainesville, Florida, during a summer internship program in 2018 that was connected to Rivera’s church.
According to court filings, “Instead of taking appropriate measures to put an end to Jane Doe’s sexual abuse, the Riveras each separately isolated and intimidated Jane Doe in order to keep her from speaking out about the abuse she suffered at the hands of MG, so that they would not cause any problems for the Ignite Life Summer Internship and Refuge of Hope.”
According to the Refuge of Hope’s website, Clara is the chief pastor of the organization. She is also mentioned in the complaint. According to the records, “The Ignite Summer Internship required children to reside at Ignite Life Center for the duration of the program, without parental supervision.”
According to the lawsuit, the baseball professional “paid Jane Doe’s expenses” so that she would be able to “attend the summer program.”
According to the lawsuit, MG is accused of reportedly assaulting Jane Doe again during a barbecue in the summer of 2018 at the Riveras’ Brook View home. The Riveras have moved out of the property.
The lawsuit also claims that Jane Doe was sexually molested by Ruben Tavarez Jr. in August 2021. Ruben Tavarez Jr. is the son of Ruben Tavarez Sr., who is the assistant pastor of Refuge of Hope.
According to the lawsuit, the Riveras “falsely promoted their activities and premises as being safe, moral, and otherwise free of a risk of harm when it knew or should have known otherwise.” The plaintiff wants a jury trial.
PEOPLE contacted a representative for Mariano and Refuge of Hope church to ask for a statement, but they did not get a response right away.
From 1995 until 2013, Rivera was the New York Yankees’ closer for 19 seasons. He has been selected as an MLB All-Star 13 times, won the World Series five times, and was named the World Series MVP in 1999. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Donald Trump in 2019. He is the first player in the history of baseball to be chosen into the National Baseball Hall of Fame by unanimous decision.
According to the church’s website, Mariano and Clara started Refuge of Hope in their house in 2009. They eventually grew and seized control of the North Avenue Presbyterian Church, which is located in New Rochelle, New York.
