BUENOS AIRES -- Boca Juniors forward Cristian Pavón, who played in the 2018 World Cup and was on loan at the Los Angeles Galaxy of the American MLS in 2019 and 2020, was charged on Monday with "alleged sexual assault with carnal access," according to judicial sources.
"The Office of Instruction of Alta Gracia, under the direction of Alejandro Peralta Otonello, has charged Cristian David Pavón with the alleged crime of sexual assault with carnal access," the Prosecutor's Office reported.
"The Prosecutor's Office has also decided to schedule a hearing for the defendant to give his statement on March 23, 2021," the text adds.
The woman who made the complaint on November 25, 2020, claims that the incident occurred on November 1, 2019, in the province of Córdoba, the forward's hometown.
"Pavón sexually assaulted me in a bathroom. I went through a living nightmare. I want to explain to society that if I took all this time to report it, it was because I was in a rehabilitation situation. I had fallen into a deep depression, completely disappointed by a situation I had experienced at a party that I attended and where Cristian Pavón was," the woman said in statements to the media.
"I was in the bathroom feeling sick, dizzy, and unstable. That's when Cristian forced the door, entered the bathroom, and unfortunately, the incident occurred inside. After the assault, he left the bathroom as if nothing had happened and left me lying there. He pushed me to abuse me. His friends thought he was having consensual relations, but that was not the case," she explained.
Pavón published a statement on his Instagram account claiming that the woman is lying and he filed a complaint against her for "extortion and false accusation."
The forward underwent a posterior arthroscopy of both ankles in February, he has not returned to play yet, and his father announced that he intends to be sold abroad due to differences with the Boca Juniors executives, stemming from economic issues.
Pavón debuted in Talleres in 2013, the following year he was signed by Xeneize and loaned to Colón.
He played for Boca Juniors from 2015 to 2019 when he was loaned to the American team.
With Argentina, he played in the U17 and U20 World Cups, the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, and the 2018 World Cup in Russia.