Ex-MLB star Felipe Vázquez sentenced to prison for sexually assaulting teen
The two-time All-Star reportedly exchanged sexually explicit content with an underaged girl in 2017
Felipe Vázquez, a two-time All-Star with the Pittsburgh Pirates, has been sentenced to state prison after sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl.
The former pitcher, 30, was sentenced Tuesday for a 2017 case involving sexual misconduct with a minor. He was arrested in 2019 and found guilty in May 2021, and will now serve two to four years in a state penitentiary, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Per the report, Vázquez received credit for 23 months time served.
“He’s been incarcerated 23 months today,” Vázquez’s lawyer, Gary Gerson, explained to the Post-Gazette on Tuesday. “Eventually he will be transported to the Department of Corrections processing center in Camp Hill. In one month, [Vázquez] will be at his minimum sentencing eligible for parole, and, of course, he’ll have to have a parole hearing and things of that nature.”
Vázquez reportedly exchanged sexually explicit content with an underaged girl, starting when she was 13, authorities said, according to a previous report from theGrio. He was charged with solicitation of a child, providing obscene material to minors, and possession of computer pornography, according to a statement by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. When he appeared in court in 2019, he was denied bail and taken to the Allegheny County Jail, NBC News reported.
“The victim, now 15 years of age, was continuing to have a relationship with Vázquez via text messaging and received a video in July from him in which he is shown performing a sex act,” the Florida State Police said at the time.
“Additionally, Vázquez allegedly sent the victim text messages suggesting they would meet for sex after his baseball season was over.”
“Although the photographs and video did not depict the suspect’s face, the images depicted numerous tattoos about the suspect’s body” and they match “publicly available images of the suspect,” according to the affidavit signed by Florida Department of Law Enforcement Special Agent Orlando Esquibel and Lee County Judge Tara Paluck.
“The victim’s mother discovered the messages, photographs, and video the suspect sent the victim,” the warrant continued. “On July 23, 2019, the victim’s mother sent a text message to include a screen shot of the photographs to the suspect informing him the victim was a minor.”
The victim said Vázquez drove to her home and “pulled her pants down while they were inside his car, placed the victim on top of his lap” and attempted to have sexual intercourse with her, according to the deputy report.
Vázquez could face additional charges in Missouri and Florida related to this same case.
In 2018, Westmoreland County in Pennsylvania slapped Vázquez with charges of statutory sexual assault, indecent assault of a person less than 16 years of age, corruption of minors and unlawful contact with a minor.
Vázquez spent five seasons in MLB. He last pitched in 2019.
*This story contains additional reporting from Kea Morgan Smith.
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