LA Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer ducks charges over sexual assault claims

LOS ANGELES (CN) — Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer won't face criminal charges over claims he physically and sexually assaulted a woman on two occasions last year.

The LA district attorney's office declined to pursue charges, saying it was unable to prove the allegations beyond a reasonable doubt based on the available evidence, including witness statements, physical evidence and civil court proceedings by the woman to obtain a restraining order.

Major League Baseball put Bauer, 31, on leave this past July after a San Diego woman sought the restraining order against him, claiming he had physically and sexually assaulted her on two separate occasions. She reportedly claimed Bauer had choked her until she was unconscious and punched her during their sexual encounters.

"I had consensual sex with this woman on two occasions at my residence in Pasadena, during which we engaged in rough sex," Bauer said Tuesday in a statement posted on YouTube. "We established rules and boundaries and I followed them. On both occasions, she consented beforehand when we established those boundaries. She also repeatedly consented during sex, when I asked her multiple times if she was enjoying herself and if she wanted to continue."

Bauer insisted that, in spite of what has been reported, he never punched the woman in her face or in the vagina, never had anal sex with her or sodomized her in any way. After the woman left his place, she didn't look anything like the photos that were later attached to her family court declaration, according to Bauer.

"I’m not a perfect person," Bauer said. "If you want to judge me for engaging in rough sex with a woman that I hardly knew, that’s OK too. In evaluating my life over recent months, it's clear I've made some poor choices, particularly in regards to the people that I've chosen to associate with."

The pitcher was the Dodgers' key signing last year as they sought to repeat their 2020 World Series championship. He joined the team as a free agent on a three-year, $102-million contract in February 2021. When he was put on leave at the start of July, Bauer had an 8–5 record and led the league with 107 innings pitched and 137 strikeouts.

The Dodgers reportedly paid Bauer $40 million last year, the highest salary in baseball history, even though he was barred from playing half the season and missed the entire post-season playoffs.

This past August, a judge denied the woman's request for a five-year restraining order, partly based on the woman’s text messages to Bauer in which she reportedly suggested she had enjoyed it when he previously choked her unconscious during sex and said to give her “all the pain.”

Follow @edpettersson

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