An appeals court in the Dominican Republic on Tuesday ordered a new trial in the legal case involving Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco, who was convicted in June on a charge of sexual abuse of a minor, according to multiple reports.
The court ruled in favor of Franco, 24, who received a two-year suspended prison sentence in June. His attorneys were appealing his conviction and suspended sentence, while prosecutors sought an increase to a five-year prison term for Franco, per reports.
“The court understood that there were many flaws, many omissions … many issues, and decided to send the case to a new trial,” said Franco’s attorney, Teodosio Jáquez, according to the Associated Press.
Prosecutor José Martínez Montan told the AP that procedures would be reevaluated in the new trial. “We won the case in the first trial, and we expect the same in the new trial,” he said.
Franco last played an MLB game in August 2023, when allegations that he engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a minor surfaced on social media. MLB placed Franco, who was 22 at the time and denied the allegations, on administrative leave, and he remained there until July 2024, when prosecutors filed charges. The league placed Franco on the restricted list at that time.
Prosecutors previously cited testimony from the girl involved in the case, who was 14 at the time of the complaint, and other family members. They said Franco transferred thousands of dollars and other gifts to the girl’s mother in exchange for allowing him to engage in the alleged abuse of her daughter.
The girl’s mother, whom The Athletic is not naming to preserve her daughter’s anonymity, was sentenced in June to 10 years in prison on charges of money laundering and commercial sexual exploitation of a minor. Tuesday, the appeals court in the Dominican Republic also granted the mother a new trial, according to multiple reports.
Franco signed an 11-year, $182 million contract with the Rays in November 2021. The impact of Tuesday’s ruling and Franco’s legal status on his contract remains to be seen.
Neither Franco nor the girl’s mother was present in the courtroom Tuesday, according to the Associated Press.