Dominican judge orders to open trial for Wander Franco

Saint Dominic. Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco will have to face trial for sexual abuse of 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. No date was scheduled for the trial, which will be carried out by a panel of magistrates. There is no jury trial in the Dominican Republic.

The minor’s mother, accused of marketing her daughter and being Franco’s accomplice, also goes to the next stage, where they would be sentenced or discharged.

The accused, 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 the baseball player’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, Wander paid thousands of dollars to the minor’s mother to consent to the relationship, which lasted four months. During the raids on the house of the minor’s mother, prosecutors say they found $68,500 and $35,000 that was allegedly delivered by Franco.

The most serious charges that the accused 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 from, and where the events occurred.