Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco will go to trial in sexual abuse case

Associated Press

PUERTO PLATA, Dominican Republic (AP) — Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco will go to trial on charges that he sexually abused a 14-year-old girl, said a judge in the Dominican Republic on Thursday. After an investigation that lasted over a year, judge Pascual Valenzuela of the northern province of Puerto Plata ruled that the evidence presented by the prosecutors was worthy of the case moving to trial. No date has been set for the trial that will be handled by a panel of judges. In the Dominican Republic, there are no jury trials. Prosecutors filed multiple charges against Franco six months after a judge ordered that he be investigated in connection with alleged sexual and psychological abuse of the girl.