Pittsburgh Pirates’ pitcher Felipe Vazquez faces 21 new child sex-related charges
Felipe Vazquez, closing pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates, was arrested in September and charged with soliciting a child for sexual acts. Since his arrest, the 28-year-old Vasquez has been jailed without bail in Pennsylvania’s Westmoreland County Jail. The already bad legal situation surrounding the former All-Star got more serious yesterday when he appeared in a Westmoreland County courtroom where prosecutors piled on an additional 21 sex-related charges, according to USA Today.
Ten of those charges were for child porn possession; and ten more charges were for unlawful contact with a minor. The 21st charge levied against him was for corruption of a minor. During his hearing yesterday, he entered a plea of not guilty. He was still remanded back to jail without bail.
Vazquez did not speak during the hearing. His only reaction after bail was denied was to audibly sigh.
Vazquez, who was arrested in September, faces multiple felonies in both Pennsylvania and Florida. He had previously been charged with three felonies in Pennsylvania — statutory sexual assault of a minor 11 years or older; unlawful contact with a minor; and corruption of minors — as well as one misdemeanor, indecent assault of a person less than 16 years old. ~ ESPN
The new and additional charges filed against Vasquez yesterday are the result of images procured from electronic devices seized from his home. A Pennsylvania State Police investigator said that between his cell phone and his laptop, seven photographs and three videos of a girl “in various stages of nudity” were discovered during the investigation against the pitcher.
Vasquez admitted to detectives that he and the 13-year-old victim in the case had exchanged sexually explicit photos and that he had driven to her home in Scottdale, “where he attempted to have sex with her in his car about two years ago,” according to AJC. That child has since moved from Western Pennsylvania to Florida.
The girl, now 16, told police Vazquez drove to her residence in Scottdale Borough, Pennsylvania, about an hour outside of Pittsburgh, in August 2017. When Vazquez, then 26, arrived, the girl got into his car. She told police that Vazquez placed her on his lap, removed her pants and tried to have sex with her. Vazquez then told the girl he had to leave because he had a game that night. ~ ESPN
Vasquez will remain on the MLB’s Restricted List until the charges against him are resolved. For more on the story, see the video accompanying this article.
~ Posted by: Richard Webster, Ace News Today / Follow Richard on Facebook and Twitter
