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Wander Franco went to trial on Monday in the midst of accusations that he had had a relationship with a minor and paid his mother thousands of dollars for his consent.
The 2023 MLB All-Star played for the last time in August. Since then, he has been accused of sexually abusing a minor, sexual and commercial exploitation against a minor and human trafficking.
Prosecutors say that the child’s mother went from being an employee of the bank to supposedly leading an ostentatious life and acquiring assets using the funds she received from Franco.
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The star of Tampa Bay Rays Wander Franco went to trial on Monday. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara, Archive)
During the raids in the child’s mother’s house, prosecutors say they found $ 68,500 and $ 35,000 who allege that Franco delivered.
Franco appeared in court on Monday and gave an emphatic supplication.
“Let justice be done,” he said, through ESPN.
According to ESPNDominican prosecutors say that Franco called the minor “My Girl” in a WhatsApp message, admitting that the relationship was a “risk”, but he “loved”.
“My girl,” Franco was supposedly wrote in Spanish. “If my team realizes this, it could cause me problems. It is a rule for all the teams that we cannot talk to minors, and yet I risked and loved it.”
Prosecutors say that Franco’s alleged relationship with the girl, who was 14 years old at that time, lasted four months and supposedly paid him not to talk about that. The girl’s mother also faces money laundering positions based on gifts that Franco allegedly sent.
The Campocorto de Tampa Bay Rays Wander Franco, Centro, is escorted by the Police to the Court in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, on January 5, 2024. (Photo AP/Ricardo Hernández)
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The Campocorto allegedly gave the girl the equivalent of $ 46,000 in July and August and allegedly paid the mother around $ 1,700 per month, along with a new car, according to the documents published in January last year, through ESPN.
Franco and the girl supposedly met on December 9, 2022 after he “took her out of her house” had sex twice in a period of two days and began their relationship.
Franco played for the last time a major league game on August 12, 2023, and with the positions, now it is increasingly likely to play again.
Franco was an All-Star for the first time that season, since he cut .281/.344/.475 with 17 homers and 58 races promoted in 112 games.
The Rays Campocorto de Tampa Bay, wandering Franco, launches at the first base against the Miami Marlins in Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, on July 25, 2023. (Jonathan Dyer-USA Today Sports)
He signed a contract extension of 11 years and $ 182 million in November 2021, but a team option could make the agreement be worth $ 233 million. Franco is no longer paid, but he was receiving payments while he was on administrative license. The payments ended when they placed it in the restricted list.
