Disgraced MLB star Wander Franco learns fate amid sexual abuse trial

Former MLB star Wander Franco could be looking at a lengthy stint in prison - if prosecutors in the Dominican Republic get their way. 

The former Tampa Bay Rays shortstop is on trial in his native Dominican Republic, facing charges of sexual abuse, sexual exploitation against a minor and human trafficking, involving a girl who was 14 years old at the time of the alleged crimes.

Dominican prosecutors requested on Monday that the 24-year-old baseball player be sentenced to five years in prison.

The prosecutors said in court there is sufficient evidence to prove Franco had a relationship with the minor for four months and that he transferred large sums of money to the minor´s mother to consent to the illegal relationship.

The prosecutors also requested the minor´s mother be sentenced to 10 years in prison, arguing she sexually trafficked her daughter.

In a previous hearing, prosecutors described the evidence presented as 'convincing' and 'compelling.' 

Franco was having an All-Star season in 2023 before Dominican authorities began investigating allegations he had been in a relationship with a minor and paid her mother thousands of dollars for her consent.

The authorities allege that Franco, through his mother Yudelka Aybar, transferred 1 million pesos (or $17,000) to the mother of the minor on January 5, 2023, to consent to the abuse.

Prosecutors say that the minor's mother went from being a bank employee to leading an ostentatious life and acquiring assets using the funds she received from Franco. During raids on the house of the minor's mother, prosecutors say they found $68,500 and $35,000 that they allege was delivered by Franco.

When the case first went to trial earlier this month, the Dominican authorities laid out their arguments against the former MLB player in the first hearing. 

'Franco Aybar abducted the victim for sexual purposes for several days in the municipality of Villa Montellano, in the province of Puerto Plata,' prosecutors reiterated.

'(He) then sent large sums of money to her mother (also under indictment) to prevent her from reporting him.' They claimed that the money was used to buy property.

Prosecutors repeatedly alleged that Franco maintained a relationship of sexual exploitation and abuse for eight months with the minor. They argued that during that period, the minor's mother benefited from payments of money in exchange for maintaining her silence.

However, when Franco's defense team first took the stand, his lawyers argued that the prosecution had no evidence to connect their client to the crimes he's accused of. They further claimed that the accusation is flawed.

After an investigation that lasted over a year, judge Pascual Valenzuela ruled last September that the evidence was worthy of the case moving to trial.

'It's a solid accusation and the court understood it,' prosecutor Claudio Cordero said at the time. 'The evidence linked the defendants to what's described in the accusation.'

Franco is also facing separate gun-related charges in the Dominican Republic and could face up to five additional years behind bars if convicted. 

Franco, who signed a $182million, 11-year contract with the Rays in 2021, was also arrested in November for illegally carrying a gun in his vehicle. It followed an argument in an apartment complex parking lot.

The firearm was registered under the name of Franco's uncle and one of the MLB star's lawyers said because the gun has a license, 'there's nothing illegal about it.'