Pittsburgh Pirates star Felipe Vazquez had sex with a 13-year-old girl in an illicit act he cut short because the pitcher had to get to a game that night, Pennsylvania authorities said Wednesday.
Vazquez, 28, was arrested in Pittsburgh on Tuesday in connection to juvenile sex crime charges in Florida, but now Pennsylvania police said they plan to have him first face allegations in the Keystone State relating to that same girl.
Vazquez allegedly drove an hour from Pittsburgh to the girl’s home in Scottdale in August 2017, where he had sex with the girl in the front seat of his red Ford Mustang, parked in the driveway of her residence, state police Trooper Michael Thompson explained in a criminal complaint made public Wednesday and seen by NBC News.
“The victim entered into his vehicle and at that point in time that’s where the sexual intercourse took place. She was 13 at the time when this took place,” state police Trooper Stephen Limani told reporters, calling the alleged acts “horrific, appalling and disgusting.”
The Pirates star was charged in Pittsburgh with statutory sexual assault and unlawful contact with a minor, separate from the charges he still faces in Florida.
Vazquez admitted to police that he traded nude pictures with the victim, according to the complaint. The pitcher also allegedly shared details of that 2017 encounter.
Vazquez described to police his interaction with the girl that day as “sex but not really” because they didn’t complete the act, the court document explained.
“They stopped and he told the victim that he had to leave because he had a game that night,” according to Thompson.
Vazquez’s lawyer, Michael Comber, declined to comment on Wednesday. Vazquez’s representatives at Miami-based Magnus Media also declined to comment on Wednesday.
The All-Star relief pitcher was arrested on Tuesday on charges out of Florida, where the victim now lives, accusing him of exchanging obscene material with the underage girl.
Vazquez, who makes his off-season home in Saint Cloud, Florida, was booked for solicitation of a child, providing obscene material to minors and possession of computer pornography, according to a statement by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
“We have no reason to relinquish Mr. Vazquez from our custody until we’re able to work through the charges that we have” in Pennsylvania first, Limani told reporters.
The Pennsylvania state trooper said the Keystone State case is more serious than the Florida allegations against Vazquez: “Ours is physical contact.”
Vazquez is a two-time All-Star relief pitcher and is in the midst of a four-year, $22 million contract with the Pirates that’s set to pay him $4.5 million this season and $5.75 million in 2020.
