Yankees Legend Mariano Rivera Accused of Covering Up Child Sex Abuse at His Church: Report

Hans Pennink/AP

New York Yankees legend Mariano Rivera was accused of covering up child sex abuse in his church and home in a recent lawsuit filed in the state.

According to reporting from Independent, the legal complaint was filed Jan. 16 in the Supreme Court of Westchester County. Rivera, as well as his wife, was accused of “being negligent in their supervision and allegedly failing to act upon learning that a young girl from their church was being sexually abused.”

The church in question is Refuge of Hope — located approximately 15 miles north of the Bronx. Mariano is the lead pastor and his wife Clara is in charge of day-to-day operations.

According to the suit, a minor girl was sexually abused by an older minor girl at a summer internship in 2018. The internship took place at the Ignite Life Center in Gainesville, Florida — which the Riveras’ church supported. At some point during the internship, Mariano and Clara traveled down to New York. There, the suit claims, the two “learned or should have learned information” about the abuse. The suit alleges that Mariano and Clara “each separately isolated and intimidated Jane Doe to remain silent about her abuse.”

Back in New York, the abuse allegedly continued at a barbecue hosted by the Rivera family.

Three years later, the victim was allegedly assaulted again by Ruben Tavarez Jr., the adult son of Refuge of Hope Associate pastor Ruben Tavarez Sr.

The lawsuit also named several other people associated with Ignite Life Center who have been arrested for child sex crimes. The Riveras were accused of failing to “adequately supervise or act on known risks, leading to these incidents.”

The Riveras have not commented on the lawsuit.