Former Major League Baseball pitcher Felipe Vázquez was sentenced to two to four years in prison on Tuesday, August 17, 2021, after being found guilty of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl, according to reports.
In May, a Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania jury convicted the 29-year-old, two-time Pirates All-Star, on 15 counts, including statutory sexual assault, child sexual abuse, child pornography and corruption of minors.
The sentence includes an additional two years of probation, according to TMZ. Felipe Vázquez was arrested in September 2019 and told police at the time that he had “sex but not really” with the girl in 2017, according to a Pennsylvania criminal complaint.
The girl testified that they had sex in her car outside her home hours before a Pirates game. They began a relationship on social networks and Felipe Vázquez’s defense had argued that the girl cheated on him about her age. “The jury believed that he used his position as a professional athlete to attack a girl,” Assistant District Attorney Jim Lazar said in May.
Felipe Vázquez was found innocent of 10 other charges of illegal contact or communication with a minor, related to sexually explicit text messages, photos and videos, according to prosecutors, that he and the teenager exchanged for two years.
Originally from Venezuela, the former Pirates closer was named All-Star in 2018 and 2019. Felipe Vázquez was placed on the MLB restricted list following his arrest and has been ineligible to play since. He signed a four-year, $ 22.5 million contract with Pittsburgh before the 2018 season.
Felipe Vázquez began his career with the Nationals. He has had 175 saves and a 2.61 ERA in five seasons. (Fielding)