Rays’ Wander Franco Found Guilty in S**ual Abuse Case of Minor

Wander Franco has been found guilty of s**ual abuse of a minor and was handed a 2-year suspended sentence by a Dominican Republic court.

Rays’ Wander Franco Found Guilty in S**ual Abuse Case of Minor

Wander Franco (Image via AP News)

Suspended Tampa Bay Rays star Wander Franco was found guilty of s**ual abuse of a minor. On Thursday, a court in the Dominican Republic announced this massive decision and handed him a 2-year suspended sentence.

The MLB was left in shock in 2023 when some serious charges were leveled at Franco. The shortstop was accused of s**ual abuse of a minor and was alleged to have been in an illegal relationship with her. The minor was reported to be 14 years old at that time.

The player was facing charges of s**ual abuse, s**ual exploitation, and human trafficking. He had denied all these charges and expressed that he was innocent.

In a raid conducted by the authorities, sums of $68,500 and $35,000 were recovered from the house of the minor’s mother. It was alleged that Franco had delivered this money to her to keep their relationship private.

On Thursday, three judges presiding over the case in Puerto Plata Collegiate Court found the MLB All-Star guilty in the s**ual abuse case and illegal relationship and handed him a 2-year suspended sentence. As this is a suspended sentence, Franco has avoided time behind bars. The prosecutors were previously seeking a 5-year jail term for him.

There are certain conditions that the court set for Franco to avoid prison time. The biggest one in this is not approaching minors with s**ual intentions.

Minor’s mother in Wander Franco case slapped with 10-year imprisonment sentence

Apart from Wander Franco being found guilty in the s**ual abuse case, the mother of the victim was also found guilty. The court in Dominican Republic slapped her with a 10-year imprisonment sentence.

Wander Franco
Wander Franco (Image via Imago)

Martha Vanessa Chevalier Almonte, mother of the minor in this case, was found guilty of s**ually trafficking her own daughter. The court also ordered the authorities to seize every asset she received through Franco.

In August 2023, a social media post surfaced online that alleged Franco had a relationship with a 14-year-old minor, which started in December 2022. While the player denied this, he was put on administrative leave by the MLB and has not played since then.

Tampa Bay Rays issue statement regarding Wander Franco being found guilty of s**ual abuse

Almost 2 years after some serious allegations were labeled at him, Wander Franco was found guilty of s**ual abuse. The Tampa Bay Rays would later issue a statement regarding this verdict from the Dominican court.

Wander Franco
Wander Franco (Image via Imago)

In the statement released, the American League East team claimed that they respect the decision of the court and will fully cooperate with the MLB on this. The team will not make any more comments at the moment regarding this.

We respect the legal process in the Dominican Republic and believe it is important to allow it to run its course. We will continue to fully cooperate with Major League Baseball as it monitors the situation. Out of respect for everyone involved, we will not be providing any further comment at this time.

Before being placed on administrative leave, he was in fine form. In the 112 games he played in the 2023 season, he was hitting with a .281 batting average and had 17 home runs and 58 RBI. These performances saw him being named as an All-Star in 2023.

He was also one of the top names in the Rays’ lineup. The star shortstop had penned down a massive 11-year, $182 million contract in 2021, which would have kept him on the team till 2032. His return to MLB now seems unlikely as it would be difficult for him to attain work visa with a conviction.

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