Former Pittsburgh Pirates all-star closer Felipe Vazquez was deported back to Venezuela recently after being convicted of various child sex crimes.
Vazquez — who was suspended by Major League Baseball and the Pirates in 2019 after allegations of child solicitation were introduced — was found guilty in May 2021 on 15 counts, including statutory sexual assault, sexual abuse of children, and child pornography. He was sentenced to two years in prison on August 17, 2021.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said in a statement late last week that an immigration judge with the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) in Cleveland, Ohio, ordered on May 31, 2023 that Rivero must be deported back to Venezuela.
“Rivero Blanco’s removal demonstrates ERO Philadelphia’s commitment to protecting U.S. persons from predators regardless of their public persona or status,” said ERO Philadelphia Field Office Director Cammilla Wamsley.
NEW: ICE in Philadelphia has deported former MLB All Star pitcher Felipe Vazquez back to Venezuela. He was previously convicted of statutory sexual assault of a minor, sexual abuse of a child, child porn, & other charges in Pennsylvania after he had sex w/ a 13-year-old girl. pic.twitter.com/UWNMQkQy4I
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) December 11, 2023
As The Daily Wire previously reported, Vazquez was initially arrested in September 2019 after the mother of a 15-year-old girl in Florida discovered photos and illicit messages from the MLB star on her daughter’s phone. The mother sent Vazquez a message telling him her daughter was a minor before contacting police.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP
After his arrest, Vazquez told police he had “sex but not really” with the then 13-year-old girl in 2017.
According to Westmoreland County Assistant District Attorney James Lazar, Vazquez said the two started talking in the summer of 2017 when she reached out to him to wish him a happy birthday, after which Vazquez asked that the conversation be moved to Snapchat.
As reported by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the victim testified that she and Vazquez had sex in his car in 2017 when she was 13 years old. Vazquez said the girl had sent him a photo of an ID showing her to be of legal age, a claim the victim disputes.
During the trial, the prosecution presented text messages that appeared to show Vazquez referring to the victim as his “slave” and “possession.”
The two continued to exchange messages, including one in December 2019 when she told him that she was at Walt Disney World, and Vazquez responded by telling her to “give up” pictures of her body. She later sent him a picture in her underwear, and Vazquez said, “Wow look at you. Not the one little kid I meet three years ago anymore.”