A judge on Friday rejected a defense request to dismiss three sex-related charges against former Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Felipe Vazquez, who claims his female accuser told him she was almost an adult when police say they engaged in sexual activity.
Vazquez, 29, is in Westmoreland County Prison without bond as he awaits trial on charges he had sexual contact with 13-year-old girl in Scottdale and exchanged pornographic pictures and sexually explicit text messages with her starting in 2017 and continuing until his arrest in 2019.
Defense attorney Gary Gerson said evidence will show that Vazquez believed his accuser was “17 years old turning 18.”
“She admitted candidly she lied to Mr. Vazquez,” Gerson said after Friday’s court hearing.
The ruling from Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court Judge Scott Mears means that charges of unlawful contact with a minor, corruption of minors and indecent assault of a person less than 16 years old will go to trial, scheduled to begin this spring. Mears has yet to rule on a defense motion requesting dismissal of one felony count of statutory sexual assault based on the same argument about the accuser’s age.
Gerson said there is evidence the teen first reached out to Vazquez through Instagram to congratulate him on signing a contract with the Pirates and to wish him a happy birthday, and that she later misrepresented her age as they communicated.
In a court filing submitted this week, Gerson argued that Vazquez had no means to learn his accuser’s age through the review of any documents nor was her age obvious from her appearance.
“Thus, since the commonwealth’s own evidence establishes a reasonable mistake of age as a matter of law, there is no basis to try defendant on these charges and no reason to subject Mr. Vazquez to a trial that will be a foregone conclusion,” Gerson wrote in court documents.
Police contend Vazquez had a sexual relationship with the 13-year-old in Scottdale just hours before the Pirates were scheduled to play a game in Pittsburgh in August 2017.
In a second case, he is charged with 10 counts of child pornography, 11 offenses of unlawful contact with a minor and one charge of corruption of a minor after police say he and the girl exchanged sexually explicit pictures and text messages.
Gerson on Friday withdrew a motion asking for dismissal of 10 counts of unlawful contact with a minor.
Prosecutors said the anticipated defense at trial is one that should be decided by a jury.
“We have to be allowed to prove the case first,” argued Assistant District Attorney Jim Lazar.
In addition to the charges in Pennsylvania, police in Florida charged Vazquez with similar offenses after authorities say the pitcher had a sexual relationship with the same girl after she moved to Florida.
Police in Missouri charged Vazquez last year with pornography offenses after investigators said he and the same teen exchanged sexually explicit messages when the the pitcher was playing for the Pirates in St. Louis in 2019. Both the Florida and Missouri cases are pending.
Jury selection for the Westmoreland County case is scheduled to begin May 14 and testimony is expected to start May 17.
Rich Cholodofsky is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Rich at 724-830-6293, rcholodofsky@triblive.com or via Twitter .
Categories: Local | Top Stories | Westmoreland
"claim" - Google News
March 27, 2021 at 03:02AM
https://ift.tt/39lheSZ
Former Pirates pitcher Vazquez to claim teen accuser lied about her age - TribLIVE
"claim" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2FrzzOU
https://ift.tt/2VZxqTS
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Former Pirates pitcher Vazquez to claim teen accuser lied about her age - TribLIVE"
Post a Comment