PUERTO PLATA, Dominican Republic -- Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco was declared criminally responsible for the sexual and psychological abuse of a minor, but he will not serve a sentence for it, a Dominican judge ruled Monday.
Judge José Antonio Núñez, in his decision, considered that Franco had been the victim of extortion and blackmail by the minor's mother, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for sexually trafficking her daughter.
Franco was arrested in January 2024 after being accused of having a four-month relationship with a girl who was 14 at the time and transferring thousands of dollars to her mother to consent to the illegal relationship.
After the ruling, Franco left the courthouse alongside his lawyer, Teodosio Jáquez, and briefly answered reporters' questions, saying, "I feel calm" and asking his fans to "continue supporting me and trusting in me."
"We don't have the physical sentence in our hands, but he was exempted from punishment because the president of the court established that he was also a victim and because he is exempted from punishment through judicial pardon," Jáquez said.
Franco also said that he personally had not contacted the Rays but that his lawyers surely had.
MLB issued a statement saying it was aware of the verdict and that it would "conclude our investigation at the appropriate time."
The full sentencing will be June 16.
"When we have the full sentence in hand, we will give you more details," Jáquez said. "He was exempted from punishment, and we think that's fine, but we need to have the sentence in hand."
In November 2021, Franco signed an 11-year, $182 million contract with the Rays, but his career was upended when authorities in the Dominican Republic announced in August 2023 that they were investigating him for an alleged relationship with a minor. Franco was 22 at the time.
Six months after his arrest, Tampa Bay placed him on the restricted list, which cut off the pay he had been receiving while on administrative leave.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.