Ex-MLB pitcher sentenced to prison for sexually assaulting teen

Former Major League Baseball pitcher Felipe Vázquez has been sentenced to prison for having a sexual relationship with a teenage girl, multiple news outlets reported.

During a sentencing hearing on Tuesday, Westmoreland County Common Pleas Judge Scott O. Mears ordered Vázquez to serve two to four years in prison on charges stemming from statutory sexual assault. 

Vázquez’s attorney Gary Gerson told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that the judge granted the former All-Star pitcher credit for serving 23 months in prison before the hearing, adding that his client will be eligible for a parole hearing a month later.  

Vázquez, who last played for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2019, was found guilty in May on 15 counts of statutory sexual assault, corruption of minors, and child pornography and on charges of sexual abuse of children and corruption of minors, according to the Gazette. 

Prosecutors said that Vázquez started communication with a 13-year-old girl in 2017, where he exchanged sexual text messages and once met her outside of her Pennsylvania home. 

The teen’s mother found out about the inappropriate relationship after the family moved to Florida, which led to the initial investigation in August 2017 and his arrest in September 2019, according to USA Today. 

Vázquez, 30, is also facing pending charges in Missouri and Florida on the same case, the Gazette noted.