Former Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Felipe Vazquez was sentenced for up to four years in prison Tuesday for the sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl, according to court documents.
The 29-year-old, two-time MLB All-Star was convicted on 15 counts, including statutory sexual assault, sexual abuse of children, child pornography, and corruption of minors, according to the New York Post.
He will spend two to four years in prison and then serve a two-year probation, the court decided.
(Andrew Rush/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via AP)
Vazquez was arrested in 2019 and at the time allegedly admitted to officers in Pennsylvania that he had sex with the girl — “but not really” — back in 2017.
The girl testified that she had sex with Vazquez in his car just before a Pirates game. They then kept in touch through social media. But, Vazquez maintained that the girl lied to him about her age.
In May, Assistant District Attorney Jim Lazar said that the jury “believed he used his position as a professional athlete to prey upon a young girl.”
Vazquez was also charged with one count of computer pornography/solicitation of a child and one count of providing obscene material to minors.
(Matt Freed/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via AP)
The Venezuela-born player, who originally signed with the Washington Nationals in 2015, was placed on MLB’s restricted list following his arrest.
Vazquez had signed a four-year, $22.5 million contract with Pittsburgh going into the 2018 season.
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