Wander Franco to stand trial starting Monday in sexual abuse case involving underage girl

Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco is scheduled to go to trial Monday in the Dominican Republic in a sexual abuse case involving a 14-year-old girl.

Now 24, Franco was having an all-star season in 2023 before Dominican authorities began investigating allegations he had been in a relationship with a minor and paid her mother thousands of dollars for her consent. The trial was initially scheduled for Dec. 12 but was postponed until June.

Here's what to know about the trial:

Franco has been charged with sexually abusing a minor, sexual and commercial exploitation against a minor, and human trafficking. After an investigation that lasted over a year, judge Pascual Valenzuela of the northern province of Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, ruled in September that the evidence presented by prosecutors was worthy of the case moving to trial.

Documents that prosecutors presented to the judge in July and were viewed by The Associated Press alleged that Franco, through his mother Yudelka Aybar, transferred 1 million pesos or $17,000 US to the mother of the minor on Jan. 5, 2023, to consent to the abuse.

The mother of the minor has been charged with money laundering and is under house arrest.

Prosecutors say that the minor's mother went from being a bank employee to leading an ostentatious life and acquiring assets using the funds she received from Franco. During raids on the house of the minor's mother, prosecutors say they found $68,500 and $35,000 that they allege was delivered by Franco.

After the hearing in September, Franco said "everything is in God's hands." He has otherwise refused to speak to the media.

The trial was set to begin June 2 at a court in the northern province of Puerto Plata. His case will be heard by either