In the case of sexual abuse of Wander Franco, the father of an alleged victim demands that the charges be dropped

PUERTO PLATA, Dominican Republic — The father of the minor child at the center of Wander Franco's sexual abuse case intends to ask the court to dismiss the charges, his attorney said Wednesday afternoon, shortly after Franco appeared in court for a hearing that was ultimately adjourned.

Franco is accused of sexually abusing a minor. Wednesday's hearing was to be the start of the trial that would determine whether he would actually be brought to justice. He arrived at the Puerto Plata courthouse wearing a black shirt and jeans, and unlike in normal court hearings, several police officers were on guard. They remained until the end of the hearing, which took place behind closed doors because the case involved a minor.

Franco, a former All-Star whose last major league game with the Rays was a year ago this week, left the courthouse without addressing reporters.

According to lawyer Dignora Diloné, the hearing was postponed until September 26 because the defense was not informed in time about a “hard drive containing audiovisual evidence relevant to the defense of Wander Franco and Ms. Martha Vanessa Chevalier.” Chevalier is the mother of the alleged victim, who also faces charges of human trafficking, sexual exploitation and money laundering.

Diloné is representing William Reyes González, the father of Franco's alleged victim, who is a civil party in the lawsuit. According to his lawyer, González intends to request that the charges be dismissed due to lack of evidence.

“We never intended to harm him and the father understood that because Wander is a source of pride for our country,” said Diloné. The athlete“He is a promising player and an outstanding export of Dominican baseball. That is why we have been against prison from the beginning.”

González has asked his lawyers from the beginning not to harm Franco because he believed it was necessary to investigate the situation himself since his daughter does not live with him. Currently, his lawyer claims that nothing has been definitively resolved and that this is only their opinion at this time.

“He told me that his daughter told him that things weren't going well between her and Franco and that they were never intimate at any point,” Diloné said. “They just took a photo, like any celebrity and any young person would do.”

Franco is accused of having sexual intercourse with a 14-year-old girl as well as commercial sexual exploitation and money laundering.

Regardless of González's request, the case remains in the hands of a judge. Once prosecutors present their evidence in court and the defense makes its case, a judge must decide whether there is enough evidence of a crime to take the case to trial. However, if the judge finds irregularities or violations of due process, an order of dismissal can be issued and the case dropped.

It was previously reported that González had filed a lawsuit against Franco, demanding 15,000,000 pesos in damages. His lawyer claims the lawsuit was filed before he had learned all the facts.

“At the beginning, you don't have the same knowledge as you do during the trial,” said Diloné. “Remember, he found out about it through the press and initially wanted to file a complaint.”

In any case, under Dominican law, the victim's family can participate in the proceedings as a civil party so that the court can award civil compensation for the damages caused. If you do not become a party to the proceedings, you will not be entitled to compensation.

“He can withdraw the case if he sees fit,” Diloné added. “There are things in which he does not agree 100 percent with the prosecution and he will adjust his interests if he decides to continue. As in this case, he does not want to continue and he will ask the same of the defense. He told me he does not want to continue, but it is my duty to attend the hearings.”

Since January, Franco has had to visit the judge once a month. His request to suspend these visits was rejected in April.

In July, prosecutors alleged that Franco paid the girl's mother thousands of dollars. They said the transactions were made through Franco's mother as an intermediary, and according to AP, prosecutors concluded Franco's mother could not prove where she got the money or why she deposited it into the account of the girl's mother, with whom she had no other connection. “He used it to avoid traces on the defendant,” prosecutors said in a 101-page document submitted to the judge.

Franco signed an 11-year, $182 million contract extension with the Rays, but has not been paid by the Rays since he was placed on the restricted list, which he remains on. If convicted, Franco faces up to 20 years in prison.

(Top photo by Wander Franco: Ricardo Hernandez / AP)