Jury finds Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Vazquez guilty of sexual assault of a teen girl

A Westmoreland County jury late Thursday found former Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Felipe Vazquez guilty of sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl.

The jury found Vazquez guilty on 15 counts, including the most serious charges of statutory sexual assault, unlawful contact or communication with a minor, indecent assault and corruption of a minor. The charges stemmed from a sexual encounter he and the teen had in a sports car parked in front of the Scottdale home where she lived in 2017.

Vazquez, 29, a Venezuela native who was traded to the Pirates in 2016 and became an All-Star pitcher two years later, was found not guilty of 10 other counts of unlawful contact or communication with a minor.

“The jury believed he used his position as a professional athlete to prey upon a young girl,” Assistant District Attorney Jim Lazar said.

The jury deliberated for five hours before returning with the mixed verdict.

He was acquitted of the 10 charges related to sexually explicit text messages, pictures and videos prosecutors said Vazquez and the teen exchanged over the two years before his arrest in September 2019 that were found by police on the pitcher’s laptop.

“I’m disappointed,” defense attorney Gary Gerson said. “I thought we put on a strong defense. But when you have a child victim, it’s a heavy lift.”

Vazquez, who appeared motionless as the verdict was read, was returned to Westmoreland County Prison and will be sentenced in about three months.

In closing arguments earlier in the day, the defense claimed Vazquez had true affection for his victim and mistakenly believed she was 18 when they first met.

Meanwhile, the prosecution labeled the former All-Star pitcher as a man bored by having sex with adult groupies.

Gerson called the now-17-year-old girl an admitted liar and told jurors she was a “young troubled child who was having some fun.”

Gerson said Vazquez had true affection for the girl and believed her when she said she was 17 and nearly 18 after she first contacted him via social media to wish him a happy birthday in 2017 and later by her actions during their sexual encounter.

“She wasn’t acting like a little girl,” Gerson said.

Lazar argued there was overwhelming evidence to support the prosecution’s claim that Vazquez knew his accuser was young based on her appearance and that he referred to her as a “kid” during a half-dozen messages. Lazar said Vazquez purposely sought a sexual relationship with the teen because of her young age.

Vazquez returned to the witness stand Thursday morning and insisted he believed his teen accuser was above the age of consent and again claimed she sent him a photograph of a Pennsylvania driver’s license that indicated she was at least 18.

“I didn’t save it,” Vazquez said when asked by Lazar about the photo.

During his more than two hours of testimony, Vazquez said he “liked” the girl and that her appearance and behavior during their sexual encounter were those of an experienced woman.

He described the way she walked to his car as that of a “fashion model” and balked when asked by Lazar to demonstrate it for the jury. “I don’t want to walk like a woman,” Vazquez said.

At the direction of Westmoreland County Judge Scott Mears, Vazquez — wearing a blue suit — stepped down from the witness stand and smiled as he walked in front of the jury box, swinging his hips back and forth.

“Let the record show Mr. Vazquez was sashaying in front of the jury,” Gerson said.

In addition to the charges in Westmoreland County, Vazquez is charged with similar offenses in Florida, based on allegations he had a sexual relationship with the same girl after she moved there in 2018.

Police in Missouri also charged Vazquez last year with pornography offenses after investigators said he and the same girl exchanged sexually explicit messages when the pitcher was playing for the Pirates in St. Louis in 2019. The Florida and Missouri cases are pending.