Wander Franco investigation: Rays shortstop's message to alleged 14-year-old victim revealed
Tampa Bay Rays Dominican baseball shortstop Wander Franco, who faces an accusation of molesting an underage girl, leaves court under heavy escort in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, on January 5, 2024. (Photo by STRINGER / AFP) (Photo by STRINGER/AF
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic - Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco is headed back to court this month.
Prosecutors in the Dominican Republic said he was involved in a plot of child sexual abuse along with the victim's mother. The Rays star is facing sexual and psychological abuse charges.
Recently, the judge dropped the sexual exploitation charge against him, ruling the evidence presented to him didn’t support it.
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His co-conspirator, Martha Almonte, the girl's mother, is charged too and is currently on house arrest.
New record show the victim, who was 14 years old at the time, told investigators in one incident, Franco took her out of her house without her mother's permission and later bought her mother a new car to "fix the emotional damage."
The girl also reported that her mother was using her as a "sexual commodity" even with her mother's own partners, and she was sick of it.
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It was the 14-year-old child who exposed the alleged abuse on social media.
The Rays shortstop had just signed an 11-year extension with the team worth $182 million. But when the allegation surfaced last August, the Rays and the MLB put Franco on administrative leave while the investigation was ongoing.
In text messages between the girl and Franco on the platform WhatsApp, he told her their secret relationship would cost him everything, but it was worth it.
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"My girl if my team realizes this it could cause problems for me, it’s a rule that all teams not to talk to minors, and nevertheless, I took a risk, and I loved it," Franco said in a message.
Franco remains free on bond without any travel restrictions. He is scheduled to be back in court in the Dominican Republic on January 30.