By joiner martinez
Aug 31, 2023, 19:13 PM EDT
The situation of the Dominican shortstop, Wander Franco, could become more complicated than expected after sources from the Dominican Republic Attorney General’s Office revealed a second formal complaint against the player.
Franco has been on administrative leave for eight days, after spending seven days on the restricted list, since Major League Baseball began the investigation against him.
The sources revealed to ESPN that another girl alleged before the specialized prosecutor for children and adolescents that she had a relationship with Franco when she was a minor. Although the third girl has not spoken to authorities, they are still investigating her alleged relationship with Franco.
It should be noted that in the Dominican Republic, the age of consent is 18 years. Anyone over the age of 18 who has a sexual relationship with someone under the age of 18 can be criminally charged.
The details about who the alleged victims could be are kept strictly confidential in order to protect their identity, in the manner established by Law 136-03, known as the Code for the protection of the rights of children. and teenagers.
On July 17, the first complaint against Franco was filed through social networks, in which he was accused of having had an inappropriate relationship with an underage woman.
The Dominican baseball player Wander Franco has hired a lawyer in the Dominican Republic to assist him in the course of the investigation against him. Up to now, no one has formally presented himself assuming his representation, although there have been talks for the baseball player to appear before the Specialized Prosecutor for Children and Adolescents.
The Attorney General of the Dominican Republic (PGR) and the office of the Major League Baseball Commissioner (MLB) continue to investigate the allegations that link the Dominican shortstop in alleged inappropriate relationships, however, neither Franco nor the team have expressed themselves in this regard.
The Major League Baseball regular season ends on September 30 and Franco is expected to remain sidelined while in the investigation process.
Generally, when there are open criminal proceedings, the MLB office does not decide sanctions against players so that those decisions do not influence their results. For this reason, it is doubtful that Franco will return this year.
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