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Wander Franco, the 24-year-old former All-Star shortstop for the Tampa Bay Rays, made an address to judges on Monday, the first day of his abuse trial in the Dominican Republic. The trial, which is expected to last anywhere from three to eight months, had originally been scheduled for December 2024, but was delayed when only three of the over 30 witnesses that were expected to appear actually showed up to the court.
Facing charges of sexual abuse, sexual exploitation against a minor, and human trafficking, Wander Franco told the judges in Puerto Plata, “I have heard everything that they are saying [in the indictment], but the only thing that I am going to say is that I hope justice is done,” according to ESPN.
Dominican prosecutors then spoke to the judges, telling them, “Franco Aybar abducted the victim for sexual purposes for several days in the municipality of Villa Montellano, in the province of Puerto Plata, and then sent large sums of money to her mother (also under indictment) to prevent her from reporting him.”
They also added that the money she received during the eight months Wander Franco allegedly sexually exploited and abused her 14-year-old daughter was used to buy property.
Wander Franco’s legal defense team then spoke to the judges, telling them that the prosecution had no evidence, despite the fact that following an investigation that lasted over a year a judge ruled last September that there was, in fact, enough evidence to warrant taking the case trial.
Franco, who signed an 11-year, $182 million contract with the Tampa Bay Rays in November 2021, was also arrested in November 2024 in the town of San Juan de la Maguana in connection to an altercation in “the parking lot of an apartment complex in which guns were drawn.” He was granted supervised release. He could still get a three-to-five-year prison sentence if convicted of illegally possessing a firearm.
The former Tampa Bay Rays star has been out of baseball since being placed on Major League Baseball’s restricted list on August 13, 2023. MLB moved him to the league’s restricted list last July when he was officially charged with a crime, so he is no longer receiving any of his salary.