Wander Franco's attorney to ask court to exonerate his client in sexual abuse case
PUERTO LA PLATA, Dominican Republic (AP) — The attorney for Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco said Monday he will ask the court to exonerate his client of all charges in a sexual abuse case involving a girl who was 14 years old at the time of the alleged crimes.
Franco, who was charged in July 2024 and is on supervised release, could face up to 30 years in prison if found guilty.
'He didn't commit the acts he's accused of,' Teodosio Jáquez told The Associated Press at the end of the fourth hearing at the Collegiate Court of Puerto Plata, a tourist city in northern Dominican Republic where the girl is from.
'They're playing their part, because their job is to accuse. However, what they have to do is prove it,' Jáquez said of the witnesses presented by prosecutors.
The prosecutors say the witnesses' testimony has been vital in proving that Franco sexually abused a minor and paid her mother money for her consent.
'Today, each of these expert witnesses' statements was vital. They established not only the fact of child sexual abuse, but also that they reinforced commercial sexual exploitation and money laundering,' prosecutor Claudio Cordero said.
Documents that prosecutors presented to the judge last year and were viewed by The Associated Press alleged that Franco, through his mother Yudelka Aybar, transferred 1 million pesos ($17,000) to the mother of the minor on Jan. 5, 2023, to consent to the purported abuse.
The mother of the minor has been charged with money laundering and is under house arrest.
Franco also has been charged with sexual and commercial exploitation against a minor, and human trafficking.
Also, on Sunday he was charged with illegal possession of a handgun, prosecutors said.
Franco was arrested Nov. 10 in San Juan de la Maguana after an altercation in a parking lot. No one was injured during the fight, and the handgun, a semiautomatic Glock 19, was found in Franco's vehicle, according to a statement from the Dominican Public Prosecutor's Office.
Franco's attorney says the player did not have the weapon, that it belongs to someone else.
'This is a celebrity, and some media outlets are perverse in trying to harm that young man,' Jáquez added.
Franco, who turned 24 on March 1, was in his third major league season when his career was halted in August 2023. He agreed to an 11-year, $182 million contract in November 2021. He is currently on Major League Baseball's restricted list after initially being placed on administrative leave.
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Mexican President Sheinbaum condemns violence in LA protests
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum condemned the use of violence in immigration protests in Los Angeles, as she urged the Mexican community abroad to remain peaceful. 'We do not agree with violent actions as a form of protest. Burning police cars appears to be more an act of provocation than of resistance. We condemn violence, no matter where it comes from,' Sheinbaum said in a prepared statement at her daily news briefing on Monday. 'We call on the Mexican community to act pacifically and not allow itself to be provoked,' she added. But the Mexican president made clear that her government has an 'unwavering commitment to the protection and defense of the human rights of Mexicans, regardless of their immigration status' — and called for due process in U.S. immigration proceedings. 'In this sense, we make a respectful but firm call to United States authorities for all immigration procedures to be carried out with adherence to due process, within a framework of respect for human dignity and the rule of law,' Sheinbaum said in her statement. Mexican flag becomes L.A. protest symbol: What to know Sheinbaum pledged her government would continue using 'all diplomatic and legal channels available' to make clear to the Trump administration that they oppose 'practices that criminalize immigration and put at risk the safety and well-being of our communities in the United States.' The statement comes amid rising tensions between immigration enforcement protesters and law enforcement in Los Angeles. Federal authorities said the weeklong immigration arrest tally in the L.A. area climbed to over 100, not including arrests of protesters over the weekend. Mexican Foreign Affairs Minister Juan Ramón de la Fuente said on Monday that 42 Mexican nationals had been detained in immigration enforcement operations in Los Angeles. Four had already returned to Mexico — two voluntarily and two were deported. The Associated Press contributed. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
San Francisco Chronicle
2 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Fugitive's girlfriend charged with aiding breakout at New Orleans jail where she once worked
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Authorities arrested a former New Orleans jail employee on Monday and accused her of aiding in the 10-inmate breakout at the facility last month, which included an escape by her boyfriend — a convicted murderer. The former jail employee, Darriana Burton, 28, is one of at least 16 people arrested and accused of aiding the escape of the inmates on May 16. Authorities said only two remain at large: her boyfriend, Derrick Groves, and Antoine Massey, who is facing charges of rape, kidnapping and domestic battery. The group of inmates escaped by yanking open a faulty cell door, removing a toilet, crawling through a hole and scaling a barbed wire fence in the early morning hours when a lone guard left to get food. Two days before the escape, Groves made a FaceTime video call to Burton using a jail-issued iPad. During that call, she helped him speak with a man who police did not identify. The conversation was 'intentionally vague' and appeared to coordinate communication on other, unmonitored lines, according to a police affidavit for Burton's arrest. In another call shortly after, the same man warned Groves against escaping, saying it would be a 'bad move' that would trigger a manhunt. He told Groves to seek release via the judicial system. The exchange showed Burton's direct role in helping with Groves' escape, according to the arrest affidavit. Burton faces a felony charge for conspiracy to commit simple escape. According to other police reports, Burton also allegedly 'picked up' and transported another fugitive, Lenton Vanburen, to a relative's home during his escape. Burton began working at the jail in 2022 and was fired the following year after she was arrested on allegations of bringing a folding knife and a bag of Cheetos containing tobacco and marijuana into the jail. The charges were dropped in part due to her lack of criminal history, and she 'successfully completed' a pretrial diversion program, the Orleans Parish District Attorney's Office told The Associated Press. 'I categorically deny any involvement in introducing contraband into the jail or assisting in any escape,' Burton said May 30 in a text message to The Associated Press. 'These allegations are false and I intend to fully defend myself through the proper legal channels.' Agents with the Louisiana Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Marshals Service coordinated Burton's arrest after obtaining a warrant on May 27. She was taken into custody in the Plaquemines Parish jail, authorities said. Burton and Groves 'were in an on-again, off-again relationship for three years," dating back to the time when she was still working in the jail, authorities said. 'We will continue to pursue anyone and everyone who has aided and abetted these criminals. We will find you, arrest you, and prosecute you to the full extent of the law," Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said in a statement. 'We will arrest all aiders and abettors, and we will eventually get Antoine Massey and Derrick Groves back to prison where they belong.' ___
The Hill
2 hours ago
- The Hill
Mexican police kill 4 gunmen, cross into Guatemala in dramatic border shootout
TAPACHULA, Mexico (AP) — Mexican state police killed four gunmen near the border with Guatemala, then pursued more suspects into that country in three armored police vehicles, where they engaged in a shootout in the streets of a border town. Authorities in both countries said Monday they were investigating. The rare case of Mexican law enforcement crossing the border into Guatemala on Sunday in La Mesilla was captured by onlookers in videos widely circulated online. With the border crossing a short distance in the background, armed men in ballistic vests and carrying rifles can be seen shouting at the open driver side door of a Chiapas state police armored vehicle. Suddenly, another such vehicle comes speeding through the border crossing from behind, scattering the armed men. The initial vehicle reverses back toward Mexico and a third armored police vehicle enters from a side street slamming a civilian vehicle into the side of the other armored police truck. Gunfire erupts with the police trucks and civilian vehicles getting hit by bullets. All the while, a Guatemalan military truck with a soldier in the turret, sits in the middle of the melee. It was the latest flare-up of violence along a section of the border that has become a flashpoint as rival Mexican drug cartels and their local affiliates battle for control of valuable smuggling routes for migrants, guns and drugs. Asked about the events, Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum said Monday that everything appeared to show that Mexican authorities entered Guatemala. 'They are investigating it and it is not all right that has happened,' she said. Chiapas state Gov. Eduardo Ramírez Aguilar criticized what he suggested were Guatemalan authorities protecting members of organized crime. His security chief, Oscar Aparicio Avendaño, told The Associated Press on Monday that police had used a drone to detect armed men crossing the border into Mexico. Police intercepted them, killing four, including a local gang leader. 'They try to cross (back to Guatemala) to evade justice and that's where we intercept them and there's the shooting,' Ramírez said. The police involved were part of a state police force called the Pakales, which have also been accused of wrongdoing. Across the border in Guatemala, authorities were cautious in their initial response. Guatemala Vice President Karin Herrera said Monday that the Guatemalan government was talking to Mexican authorities about what happened, 'but there are many things that must be confirmed.' Guatemala Defense Minister Henry Sáenz said none of the Guatemalan soldiers present in La Mesilla fired their weapons and that it remained under investigation. The stretch of the Mexico-Guatemala border has seen near continuous violence in the past two years as the Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation cartels battle for control. Last year, the violence spurred hundreds of Mexican residents to flee into Guatemala for safety. At other moments, towns have seen their power cut and cartel convoys parade through their communities. Sunday's shootout was occurring on a narrow street lined with businesses. Opening fire with the machine gun mounted on the Guatemalan military truck in such confines or against Mexican police could have also exacerbated the situation. For Arkel Benitez, a Guatemalan security analyst and lawyer, the problem is that what's visible in the videos circulating is, at best, passivity by Guatemalan police and soldiers and, at worst, collusion in the face of something that was an obvious threat to Guatemalan citizens. 'It's not about whether they followed protocol or not, it's more the doubt generated by a confluence of circumstances that gives the appearance of the (Guatemalan) police not being there to repel a border incursion,' he said. 'In the videos it appears the police are supporting these armed suspects.' ___ Associated Press writers Sara Melini in Guatemala City and Fabiola Sánchez in Mexico City contributed to this report. ____ Follow AP's coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at
