In Wander Franco sexual abuse case, alleged victim’s father will ask for charges to be dropped

PUERTO PLATA, Dominican Republic — The father of the minor at the center of the sexual abuse case against Wander Franco plans to file a motion in court to dismiss the charges, his attorney said Wednesday afternoon, shortly after Franco appeared in court for a hearing that was ultimately postponed.

Franco is accused of sexually abusing a minor, and Wednesday’s hearing was supposed to be the beginning of the process to determine whether he will actually stand trial. He arrived at the Puerto Plata courthouse dressed in a black shirt and jeans, and unlike normal court appearances, several police officers were on guard. They remained until the end of the proceedings, which were held behind closed doors because the case involved a minor.

Franco, a former All-Star whose last major league game with the Rays came a year ago this week, left the court without speaking to reporters.

According to attorney Dignora Diloné, the hearing was postponed until September 26 because the defense was not notified in time of what she called “a hard drive containing audiovisual evidence relevant to the defense of Wander Franco and Ms. Martha Vanessa Chevalier.” Chevalier is the mother of the alleged victim, who also faces related charges of human trafficking, sexual exploitation and money laundering.

Diloné is representing William Reyes González, the father of Franco’s alleged victim, who is a civil party in the lawsuit. According to his lawyer, González plans to request a dismissal of the charges due to a lack of evidence.

“We never intended to harm him and the father understood that because Wander is a source of pride for our country,” Diloné said. The Athletics“He is an excellent prospect and an excellent export for Dominican baseball, and that is why we have advocated for no jail time from the beginning.”

González has asked his lawyers from the beginning not to harm Franco, believing it was necessary to investigate the situation themselves since his daughter did not live with him. At this point, his representation claims that nothing has been finalized and that this is just their opinion at this time.

“He told me that his daughter told him that things between her and Franco weren’t like that, and that they weren’t intimate at any point,” Diloné said. “They just took a picture like any celebrity and young person would do.”

Franco is accused of having sex with a 14-year-old girl, as well as commercial sexual exploitation and money laundering.

Regardless of González’s petition, the case remains in the hands of a judge. Once prosecutors present their evidence in court and the defense presents its case, a judge must determine whether there is enough evidence of a crime to send the case to trial. However, if the judge finds irregularities or violations of due process, an order of dismissal can be issued and the case dismissed.

It was previously reported that González had filed a lawsuit against Franco, seeking 15,000,000 pesos in damages. His lawyer claims that the lawsuit was filed before he had obtained all the facts.

“In the beginning, you don’t have the same knowledge as you do during the trial,” Diloné said. “Remember, he found out about this through the press and initially wanted to file a complaint.”

Dominican law states that when there is a case involving a victim, the victim’s family can become a civil party to the proceedings so that the court can award civil compensation for the damages caused. If you do not become a party to the case, you will not have any recourse for compensation.

“He can withdraw the complaint at any time he sees fit,” Diloné added. “There are things he doesn’t 100% agree with the prosecution on and he will adjust his interests if he chooses to continue. As in the case, he doesn’t want to continue and he’s going to ask the defense to do the same. He told me he doesn’t want to continue but it’s my duty to attend the hearings.”

Since January, Franco has had to visit the judge every month. His request to suspend the visits was rejected in April.

In July, prosecutors alleged that Franco had paid thousands of dollars to the girl’s mother. They said the transactions were made with Franco’s mother as a middleman, and according to the AP, prosecutors concluded that Franco’s mother could not prove where she got the money from or why she had deposited it into the account of the minor’s mother, a person to whom she had no connection. “He used it to avoid the defendant’s trail,” prosecutors said in a 101-page document filed in court.

Franco had signed an 11-year, $182 million contract extension with the Rays, though he has not been paid by the Rays since being placed on the restricted list, where he remains. If convicted, Franco faces up to 20 years in prison.

(Top photo of Wander Franco: Ricardo Hernandez / AP)