GREENSBURG, Pa. — Former Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Felipe Vazquez was convicted on 15 counts in the sexual assault trial of a then 13-year-old victim.
Vazquez was found guilty of statutory sexual assault, indecent sexual assault, sexual abuse of children, unlawful contact with a minor, and corruption of a minor.
Vazquez was found not guilty on 10 child porn charges related to video and picture evidence in the case.
BREAKING: Felipe Vazquez found GUILTY of statutory sexual assault, sexual abuse of children, indecent assault of a minor under 16, corruption of minor.
— Amy Hudak (@amy_hudak) May 21, 2021
Vazquez was found NOT GUILTY on 10 charges of unlawful contact or communication with a minor. @WPXI
The jury only deliberated for four hours.
Earlier Thursday, Vazquez took the stand as the trial entered its fourth day.
He didn’t deny the sexual relationship that he had with the victim, but he did deny knowing that the victim was only 13. He also admitted to lying under oath.
>>RELATED STORY: Former Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher says teen accuser sent him a fake ID
The prosecution painted a picture of Vazquez grooming the underage girl and calling her “kid” in texts.
The defense said that the former MLB player’s career is over, and they don’t know what was going through the jury’s mind.
“I’m not sure exactly what their assessment of the case was, but it appears to me that may have concluded that Felipe had a mistaken belief. It was not reasonable and, therefore, they rejected our mistaken age defense,” said defense attorney, Gary Gerson.
The case isn’t over as the prosecution has cases in Florida and St. Louis.
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