Dominican court orders new trial for Tampa Bay Rays’ Wander Franco in sexual abuse case

PUERTO PLATA, Dominican Republic (AP) — An appeals court in the Dominican Republic on Tuesday ordered a new trial for Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco, who was convicted earlier this year of sexually abusing a minor and had received a two-year suspended sentence.

Tuesday’s ruling comes after Franco’s attorneys had pushed to have his conviction suspended and sentencing overturned, while prosecutors had been seeking a five-year sentence.

The appeals court ruled in favor of Franco, ordering that a new panel of judges oversee the case.

“The court understood that there were many flaws, many omissions…many issues, and decided to send the case to a new trial,” said Teodosio Jáquez, Franco’s attorney.

Meanwhile, prosecutor José Martínez Montan, the district attorney for the province of Puerto Plata, where the case is being heard, said he maintains his belief in the evidence presented during the first trial earlier this year.

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“In a new trial, the procedures will be reevaluated. We won the case in the first trial, and we expect the same in the new trial,” he said.

Franco was arrested last year after being accused of having a four-month relationship with a girl who was 14 at the time, and of transferring thousands of dollars to her mother to consent to the illegal relationship.

In November 2021, Franco signed an 11-year, $182 million contract, but his career was upended when authorities in the Dominican Republic announced in August 2023 that they were investigating him for an alleged relationship with a minor. Franco was 22 at the time.

In January 2024, Franco was arrested in his home country. Six months later, Tampa Bay placed him on the restricted list, which cut off the pay he had been receiving while on administrative leave. Major League Baseball said Tuesday that its investigation is ongoing.

A panel of three judges in late June found him guilty of sexually abusing a minor and not guilty of charges of sexual and commercial exploitation against a minor and human trafficking.

The judges also found the girl’s mother guilty of commercial sexual exploitation and money laundering and sentenced her to 10 years in prison. At the time, one of the judges, Jakayra Veras García, criticized the mother and her request that Franco pay for her daughter’s schooling and other expenses.

“Apparently, she was the one who thought she was handling the bat in the big leagues,” Veras said in June.

The appeals court on Tuesday also granted the mother a new trial. Neither Franco nor the mother was present in the courtroom.

Martín Adames, The Associated Press