Mariano Rivera, wife Clara accused in lawsuit of covering up child sex abuse claim

A lawsuit filed this week accused Hall of Fame pitcher Mariano Rivera and his wife, Clara, of covering up the sexual abuse of a 10-year-old girl who was a member of their church in New Rochelle, New York.

Rivera, who was the closer for the New York Yankees for 17 seasons, and his wife are alleged to have “isolated and intimidated” the girl into remaining silent about her abuse to prevent issues for Refuge of Hope, the church the couple helped found, the lawsuit said.

Refuge of Hope is part of the broader Assemblies of God religion and organization.

The lawsuit, filed by the girl, now 17, and her mother, neither of whom is named to protect their privacy, is seeking unspecified damages for negligent supervision and premises liability. The Riveras are identified for their alleged roles but are not named as defendants.

According to the lawsuit, Clara Rivera, who serves as a pastor at the church, told the mother that the girl should take part in a summer internship through Ignite Life Center in Gainesville, Florida, another Assemblies of God church.

The complaint alleges that Refuge of Hope paid for the girl to attend and required her to stay in a dormitory with other children without parental supervision. Court documents say that an older female camper, identified in the lawsuit only as “MG,” repeatedly sexually assaulted the girl, who was about 11 at the time, in the dorm and shower.

The girl told her mother about the abuse, and the mother then reported her concerns to Clara Rivera, who told the mother that she would investigate and get back to her, the lawsuit said. But the situation was not rectified, court documents say, and the Riveras allegedly told the mother that the girl was “safe and in no danger.”

The abuse continued at the Riveras’ home during a barbecue after the girl returned from the internship, according to the lawsuit. The couple allegedly did not invite parents to the event, only the church’s children, and the girl was left unsupervised with “MG,” even after the disclosure of the abuse.

The Riveras are accused of failing to take appropriate action and handling the allegations internally to “avoid scrutiny, public scandal, and potential financial losses from allegations of child sexual abuse becoming public information,” the lawsuit reads.

A Refuge of Hope youth leader, Ruben Tavarez Jr., who is the son of an associate pastor, is also accused of abusing the girl in 2021, which included “graphic electronic communications of a sexual nature.” It ended when the girl’s mother confronted Tavarez, according to the lawsuit.

Last month, affiliates of the Assemblies of God settled three lawsuits that alleged similar abuse of minors. A former staff member of Ignite Life Center entered into a plea agreement in connection with sexual abuse.

Joseph A. Ruta, the Riveras’ attorney, released a statement saying that the couple “do not tolerate child abuse of any kind” and that the allegations are “completely false.”

“The very first time they heard about these allegations was nearly four years after the alleged incident, when in 2022 a New York attorney sent a letter requesting a financial settlement,” Ruta said. “This was followed by a second letter in 2023, from a different Florida law firm, again requesting a financial settlement.

“The lawsuit, which seeks financial damages for the Riveras’ alleged failure to act on alleged incidents that were never reported to them, is full of inaccurate and misleading statements which we have no doubt will not hold up in a court of law.”