‘I took the risk and I loved it’: New Wander Franco documents reveal more details, report says

Related video: Prosecutors file evidence against Wander Franco on Jan. 3 in the Dominican Republic probe.

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A new ESPN report is providing more details surrounding Ray’s shortstop Wander Franco, his alleged relationship with a teenage girl and her mother’s role in the matter.

Wander Franco released from jail in Dominican Republic

In August, the allegations of Franco’s relationship with the minor came to light from posts circulating on social media. Franco was accused of having sex with the girl, who was 14 at the time. After the MLB and Dominican authorities launched investigations, the baseball player was placed on administrative leave pending the outcome.

Franco was arrested earlier this month after he missed a meeting with a prosecutor investigating the matter.

ESPN obtained a 600-page document that was given to a judge at a hearing this month.

The documents detail the victim’s relationship with Franco as well as her alleged “toxic” relationship with her mother.

Prosecutors said the girl, now 15, met Franco online in December 2022. He allegedly “took her from her home” in Puerto Plata and spent two days with her, beginning a sexual relationship that lasted four months.

Rays shortstop Wander Franco faces lesser charge as judge analyzes evidence in ongoing probe

A cousin who grew up with the girl’s mother said Franco would send a helicopter to pick her up, and sometimes ferry the girl 3 ½ hours to his hometown, Bani, to see him.

The girl said they went to “various social events” and Franco didn’t mind being seen in public with her.

The girl said her mother found out about her relationship with Franco, and rather than being alarmed, she began asking for money, cars, and new furniture for her apartment.

At one point, the girl’s mom paid a taxi driver 16,000 pesos ($275) so the girl could meet Franco at his home, the docs stated.

The girl told a psychologist she doesn’t view her mother as a mom, saying “a mother doesn’t do what she has done with me,” and that to her mother, she was nothing more than an object to make money.

“Since I was little, my mother has seen me as a way for her to benefit from both the partners she has had and my partners and it is something that I really dislike,” the girl said. “The way she did it with her partners was by telling them that I needed money for my education, the purchase of school supplies or some need related to me.”

Wander Franco granted bond in Dominican Republic

When authorities searched the mother’s home, they found a new car, as well as 800,000 pesos and nearly $70,000 in US dollars, all from Franco.

The girl had ended her relationship with Franco after the Rays’ season began, and started seeing someone else.

Franco later messaged the girl on WhatsApp and wrote: “My girl, if my team realizes this, it could cause problems for me. It is a rule for all teams that we cannot talk to minors, and yet I took the risk and I loved it.”

He sent another message that said: “I would like you to forget everything you have learned to raise you my way.”

She responded: “And what is your way? Without love? Without respect?”

Franco replied: “There was more to it but you’re just a girl and you don’t know how to get along with me, that’s why you failed, but I’ll give you only one chance, you must be only for me. Don’t look at anyone, I know you’ve been with someone else, but no one will know how to use you the way I want.”

The girl was upset by their exchange and contacted a reporter. Then her mother filed an official complaint to prosecutors in the Dominican Republic, ESPN reported.

According to the report, the girl’s relationship with her mother worsened.

At one point, the girl claimed her mother threw a rock at her and called her a Spanish word for “c—s—er.” The mother claimed the girl pulled a knife out on her, according to ESPN.

The girl said her family members “know that she is the one who has always attacked me because she has alcohol problems and when she drinks and you don’t do what she wants, she gets violent.”

The report said she moved out of her home, prompting her mother to file a kidnapping complaint.

According to court documents, Franco had given the girl 2.7 million pesos (about $46,000), with which she bought an iPhone, an iPad, her school uniform, supplies and personal items.

Last week, a judge in the Dominican Republic lessened Franco’s charges, from commercial and sexual exploitation and money laundering to sexual and psychological abuse. If he is found guilty, he faces two to five years in prison.

Franco was “conditionally released” from jail on Jan. 5 and was ordered to pay 2 million pesos ($34,000) and is required to meet with Dominican officials once a month during the investigation.

The girl’s mom remains under house arrest on the original charges of money laundering, according to the Associated Press.

ESPN reported that prosecutors have up to six months to investigate the case. Franco is free to leave the country, as long as he meets with the officials once a month.

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