{"id":285828,"date":"2026-05-27T06:51:48","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T06:51:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/285828\/"},"modified":"2026-05-27T06:51:48","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T06:51:48","slug":"tampa-bay-rays-wander-franco-found-criminally-responsible-for-abuse-but-avoids-sentence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/285828\/","title":{"rendered":"Tampa Bay Rays’ Wander Franco found criminally responsible for abuse but avoids sentence"},"content":{"rendered":"

PUERTO PLATA, Dominican Republic (AP) \u2014 Tampa Bay Rays<\/a> shortstop Wander Franco<\/a> was declared criminally responsible for the sexual and psychological abuse of a minor, but he will not serve a sentence for it, a Dominican judge ruled Monday.<\/p>\n

Judge Jos\u00e9 Antonio N\u00fa\u00f1ez, in his decision, considered that Franco had been the victim of extortion and blackmail by the minor\u2019s mother, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for sexually trafficking her daughter.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seems contradictory to declare criminal responsibility and at the same time exempt him from punishment. The court has granted Wander Franco a judicial pardon due to the particular circumstances that made him a material victim, but not a legal one,\u201d explained N\u00fa\u00f1ez.<\/p>\n

The judge justified the judicial pardon as a \u201clogical and legal reasoning.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Tampa<\/p>\n

Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco leaves court after his trial on charges of sexually abusing a minor in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, Monday, May 25, 2026. (AP Photo\/Ricardo Hernandez)<\/p>\n

Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco leaves court after his trial on charges of sexually abusing a minor in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, Monday, May 25, 2026. (AP Photo\/Ricardo Hernandez)<\/p>\n

Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n

Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n

Share<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

\u201cThank God for everything,\u201d Franco expressed as he effusively embraced his mother, Nancy Aybar, and other family members who accompanied him in court.<\/p>\n

Franco was arrested in January 2024 after being accused of having a four-month relationship with a girl who was 14<\/a> at the time and transferring thousands of dollars to her mother to consent to the illegal relationship<\/a>.<\/p>\n

After the ruling, Franco left the courthouse alongside his lawyer, Teodosio J\u00e1quez, and briefly answered reporters\u2019 questions, saying, \u201cI feel calm,\u201d and asking his fans to \u201ccontinue supporting me and trusting in me.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Tampa<\/p>\n

Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco gestures in court at the end of his trial on charges of sexually abusing a minor in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, Monday, May 25, 2026. (AP Photo\/Ricardo Hernandez)<\/p>\n

Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco gestures in court at the end of his trial on charges of sexually abusing a minor in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, Monday, May 25, 2026. (AP Photo\/Ricardo Hernandez)<\/p>\n

Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n

Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n

Share<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

Franco also said he personally had not contacted the Rays but that his lawyers surely had.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are aware of today\u2019s verdict in the Wander Franco trial and will conclude our investigation at the appropriate time,\u201d Major League Baseball said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Franco attorney J\u00e1quez said: \u201cWe don\u2019t have the physical sentence in our hands, but he was exempted from punishment because the president of the court established that he was also a victim and because he is exempted from punishment through judicial pardon.\u201d<\/p>\n

The full sentencing will be June 16.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we have the full sentence in hand, we will give you more details,\u201d J\u00e1quez said. \u201cHe was exempted from punishment and we think that\u2019s fine, but we need to have the sentence in hand.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Tampa<\/p>\n

Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco, center, leaves court after his trial on charges of sexually abusing a minor in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, Monday, May 25, 2026. (AP Photo\/Ricardo Hernandez)<\/p>\n

Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco, center, leaves court after his trial on charges of sexually abusing a minor in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, Monday, May 25, 2026. (AP Photo\/Ricardo Hernandez)<\/p>\n

Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n

Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n

Share<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

In November 2021, Franco signed an 11-year, $182 million contract<\/a> with the Rays, but his career was upended when authorities in the Dominican Republic announced in August 2023 that they were investigating him for an alleged relationship with a minor. Franco was 22 at the time.<\/p>\n

Six months after his arrest, Tampa Bay placed him on the restricted list, which cut off the pay he had been receiving while on administrative leave.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP MLB: https:\/\/apnews.com\/MLB<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PUERTO PLATA, Dominican Republic (AP) \u2014 Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco was declared criminally responsible for the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":285829,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[15331,1107,265,1108,13494,1882,28,477,121198,38354,1598,1105,121199,38356,12497,1311,110,135,137,136,1110,43495],"class_list":["post-285828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-corruption","tag-courts","tag-crime","tag-criminal-punishment","tag-dominican-republic","tag-fl-state-wire","tag-florida","tag-general-news","tag-jos-antonio-nez","tag-law-and-order","tag-law-enforcement","tag-legal-proceedings","tag-nancy-aybar","tag-pardons-and-commutations","tag-sexual-abuse","tag-sexual-assault","tag-sports","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news","tag-u-s-news","tag-wander-franco"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285828","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=285828"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285828\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/285829"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=285828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=285828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=285828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}