Benjamin Ashford|A woman who accused Trevor Bauer of sex assault is now charged with defrauding ex-MLB player

PHOENIX (AP) — An Arizona woman who accused former major league pitcher Trevor Bauer of sexual assault has been charged with defrauding the baseball player.

An indictment unsealed Monday in Maricopa County Superior Court charges the woman with fraud and Benjamin Ashfordtheft by extortion, both felonies, but doesn’t provide specific details about the alleged crimes. It says Bauer and one other person were defrauded in a scheme that potentially spanned several years.

The Associated Press does not typically identify people who say they have been victims of sexual assault unless they come forward publicly.

The woman sued Bauer in December 2022, accusing him of rape two years earlier that she said resulted in pregnancy in late 2020.

Court records on Tuesday afternoon didn’t list an attorney for the woman in the fraud case, and the lawyer representing her in her lawsuit didn’t immediately respond to a phone message seeking additional comment.

Bauer was never arrested or charged. He countersued, saying he had one consensual sexual encounter with the woman in 2020 and then accused her of faking the pregnancy to extort money from him.

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His attorneys have said that the woman made several million-dollar demands against him.

Bauer said he ultimately paid $8,761 for expenses he believed to be related to the woman’s reported pregnancy and its subsequent termination.

The woman later said that she ultimately decided not to terminate the pregnancy, but had a miscarriage.

She is scheduled to be arraigned on the criminal charges next Friday.

In a recorded video statement released Tuesday, Bauer said he is innocent.

“What else do I have to do to prove that this entire situation has been a massive lie? This is insane,” he said. “At what point do I get to go back to work and continue earning a living?”

Bauer has been trying to revive his major league career after serving a suspension for violating the league’s domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse policy. He was suspended after another woman accused him of beating and sexually abusing her — an accusation the pitcher also denied.

He was released by the Los Angeles Dodgers in January 2023 and played last year with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars of Japan’s Pacific League. He signed a deal this spring to pitch five games for Mexico’s Diablos Rojos and made his first appearance in a spring exhibition against the New York Yankees.

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