Wander Franco was found guilty of sexual abuse of a minor in his native Dominican Republic. However, the Rays shortstop dodged jail time despite pleas from prosecutors to put him behind bars.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Franco was sentenced to a two-year suspended prison sentence by the three judges presiding over the case in Puerto Plata Collegiate Court. <\/p>\n
The conviction was unanimous among the judges and comes with conditions that need to be met \u2014 the biggest being sternly told to Franco by Judge Jakayra Veras Garc\u00eda.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco, left, reacts during his trial on charges of sexual abuse of a minor, in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, Thursday, June 26, 2025. AP<\/p>\n
\u201cDo not approach minors for sexual purposes. If you don\u2019t like people very close to your age, you have to wait your time,\u201d she said to him, the Associated Press reported.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The once-touted MLB player was arrested last year after he was accused of having a monthslong relationship with an underage girl when she was just 14 then paid off the victim\u2019s mother in order for her to consent to the relationship.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Wander Franco of the Tampa Bay Rays throws out Zack Short of the Detroit Tigers at first base during the sixth inning at Comerica Park on August 5, 2023 in Detroit, Michigan. Getty Images<\/p>\n
Franco\u2019s lawyer, Irina Ventura, said that \u201cjustice was not done\u201d and that she would appeal the ruling. <\/p>\n
The one-time Rays shortstop had also been facing sexual and commercial exploitation against a minor, and human trafficking charges, but was acquitted of those.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Franco was 21 at the time of the illegal relationship with the female victim. The trial had originally been slated to start in December before it was pushed to this month.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The victim\u2019s mother was also convicted Thursday of sexually trafficking her daughter and was given a 10-year prison sentence, along with having all assets acquired through the course of Franco\u2019s crime seized, ESPN\u2019s Juan Arturo Recio reported.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Veras verbally reviewed the evidence that prosecutors had presented during the trial and the judge called it a \u201csomewhat complex process.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe court has understood that this minor was manipulated,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dominican professional baseball player Wander Franco attends his trial for sexually abusing a minor, in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic June 26, 2025. REUTERS<\/p>\n
Franco was described as looking expressionless as the proceedings continued, the AP reported.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dominican prosecutors had called for Franco to receive five years in prison, and earlier this month they said that they had \u201cconvincing evidence\u201d the Rays player had committed the crime.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The accusations against Franco first surfaced online in posts on social media in August 2023, which have kept him away from baseball since. <\/p>\n
Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco reacts after hearing his sentence during his trial on charges of sexual abuse of a minor, in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, Thursday, June 26, 2025. AP<\/p>\n
He has maintained his innocence since then and, speaking in front of the court Monday, he told the three judges, \u201cWe expect justice.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Franco has been on MLB\u2019s restricted list since charges were filed in July 2024. <\/p>\n
Though the decision by the judges can be appealed, any future in baseball seems slim due to the difficulty he would face trying to receive a work visa in the United States with a conviction.\u00a0<\/p>\n
MLB is also still conducting an investigation into Franco, and he could face further discipline under the league\u2019s domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse policy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are aware of today\u2019s verdict in the Wander Franco trial and will conclude our investigation at the appropriate time,\u201d the league said in a statement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Wander Franco was found guilty of sexual abuse of a minor in his native Dominican Republic. However, the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":18059,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[2504,1266,62,1289,67,132,68,10406],"class_list":{"0":"post-18058","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-athlete-arrests","9":"tag-mlb","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-tampa-bay-rays","12":"tag-united-states","13":"tag-unitedstates","14":"tag-us","15":"tag-wander-franco"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114753310868510637","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18058","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18058"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18058\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18059"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}