MLB star Wander Franco ‘is CHARGED with sexual abuse and sexual exploitation against a minor’
Tampa Bay Rays superstar Wander Franco has been officially charged with sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of a minor, according to ESPN.
Franco is still getting his $2 million salary, despite not appearing in an MLB game since the allegations first surfaced last summer. He is under contract through 2032 and is reportedly owed $174 million.
He is said to have had a relationship with a 14-year-old girl and paid her mother thousands of dollars in exchange for her consent.
The Dominican Republic Attorney General’s Office had 15 days to file formal charges against Franco. That process has now concluded, allowing the MLB star to stand trial in his native country.
Franco was initially suspended by the Rays, then placed on administrative leave until June 1 — per an agreement between MLB and the MLBPA, ESPN reported.
Wander Franco has been formally charged with sexual abuse of a minor
He is said to have had a relationship with a 14-year-old girl and paid her mother for her consent
Charges of money laundering and sexual exploitation were dropped earlier this year after Franco was released from prison. He was held for a week after failing to respond to a summons from prosecutors.
In April, a judge in the Dominican Republic denied Franco’s request to end his monthly contacts with authorities and return his bail of about $35,000.
Prosecutors allege, based on testimony from the girl and other family members, Franco paid the 14-year-old girl’s mother thousands of dollars in cash and other gifts in exchange for the mother’s consent to have a sexual relationship with her daughter.
The Code for the Protection of the Rights of Children and Adolescents, Law 136-03 in the Dominican Republic, considers sexual abuse as any relationship between a minor and a person five years older. Franco began a relationship with the girl when she was 14 and he was 21.