Former Pittsburgh Pirates all-star closer Felipe Vazquez — who has been suspended by Major League Baseball and the Pirates since 2019 after allegations of child solicitation were introduced — was found guilty on 15 counts, including statutory sexual assault, sexual abuse of children, and child pornography on Thursday.
Vazquez was originally 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.
After his arrest, Vazquez told police he had “sex but not really” with the then 13-year-old girl in 2017.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement put out a statement at the time of the arrest:
FDLE agents, with assistance from the Pennsylvania State Police, today arrested Felipe Vazquez, 28, of Saint Cloud, FL, for one count of computer pornography – solicitation of a child and one count of providing obscene material to minors. Vazquez, a baseball player with the Pittsburgh Pirates, was taken into custody in Pittsburgh this morning on a felony warrant out of Lee County, Florida.
FDLE’s investigation began in August of this year after agents obtained information that Vazquez had a reported sexual relationship with a 13-year-old female victim who resides in Lee County. The victim, now 15 years of age, was continuing to have a relationship with Vazquez via text messaging and received a video in July from him in which he is shown performing a sex act. Additionally, Vazquez allegedly sent the victim text messages suggesting they would meet for sex after his baseball season was over.
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 claims 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 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.”
Vazquez’s behavior with the girl is also under investigation in Florida and Missouri, where he faces additional charges.
Sentencing in Vazquez’s case will be handed down within 90 days, though typically such charges carry potentially decades-long jail sentences.
Vazquez entered Major League Baseball in 2015 with the Washington Nationals and had 37 saves in 2018 with the Pirates, making the National League All-Star Team in 2018 and 2019.