SANTO DOMINGO.- The torpedo boat Tampa Bay Rays in the MLBWander Franco, will have to face trial for sexual abuse against a minor, a judge in the Dominican Republic ruled.
After more than a year of investigation, Judge Pascual Valenzuela in the northern province of Puerto Plata ruled that the evidence presented by the Prosecutor’s Office merits a substantive trial. A trial date was not scheduled.
The minor’s mother, accused of marketing her daughter and being Franco’s accomplice, will also go to the next stage, where they would be sentenced or discharged.
Franco, who has refused to speak to the press about the issue, repeated the phrase “everything is in God’s hands” as he left the hearing that lasted more than five hours.
“It was sent, as expected, to a substantive trial,” said Franco’s lawyer, Teodosio Jáquez, after the hearing.
Prosecutors said the judge’s decision validates the strength of the evidence.
“We understand that it is a firm accusation and the court understood it that way. The evidence presented by the Public Ministry closely links the accused with the typology described in the indictment,” said prosecutor Claudio Cordero.
Franco, who was placed on administrative leave by Major League Baseball in May, arrived crestfallen at the courthouse at 9 a.m. and remained silent during the hearing, listening to his attorneys’ defense and prosecutors’ arguments.
According to prosecutors, Franco paid thousands of dollars to the minor’s mother to consent to the relationship, which lasted four months.
Stronger charges
The most serious charges that Franco will be facing are those of sexual rape of a minor, for which he could receive sentences of between 10 to 15 years in prison, and human trafficking, which is punishable in the Dominican Republic with sentences of between 15 and 20 years.
The process has been carried out in Puerto Plata, where the victim is native, and where the events occurred.
