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 theft 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.
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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FILE - Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Trevor Bauer looks toward home during the team's baseball game against the San Francisco Giants on May 21, 2021, in San Francisco. An Arizona woman who accused former pitcher Bauer of sexual assault has been charged with defrauding the baseball player. An indictment unsealed Monday, April 15, 2024, in Maricopa County Superior Court identifies Bauer as one of two victims. It charges the woman with fraud and theft by extortion, both felonies, but doesn't provide specific details about the alleged fraudulent scheme. (AP Photo/D. Ross Cameron, File)
PARIS (AP) — French actor Gérard Depardieu will face a criminal trial in October over the alleged sexual assaults in 2021 of two women on the set of a film, prosecutors announced Monday.
The 75-year-old actor, who previously has denied any wrongdoing, was detained for questioning by police in Paris for several hours earlier Monday. His lawyer, Christian Saint-Palais, later declined to comment to reporters other than to say that the actor was no longer in custody.
The Paris public prosecutor’s office said in a statement that the actor has been “summoned to appear before the criminal court” after the questioning.
A trial will start in October “for sexual assaults likely to have been committed in September 2021” against “two victims, on the set of the film ‘The Green Shutters,’ ” the statement said. It did not name the alleged victims.
French newspaper Le Parisien has reported that a 53-year-old movie decorator has alleged that Depardieu grabbed her and kneaded her waist, stomach and breasts during filming for “Les Volets verts,” or “The Green Shutters,” according to the woman’s lawyer, Carine Durrieu Diebolt, when she filed the complaint to the Paris prosecutor’s office in February.
In an open letter last October, Depardieu said: “I have never, ever abused a woman.”
Depardieu has also been accused by more than a dozen other women of harassing, groping or sexually assaulting them. He was handed preliminary rape and sexual assault charges in 2020 following allegations from actor Charlotte Arnould.
In that case, the investigating judge completed his probe on April 17 and transferred the file to the Paris public prosecutor’s office “to review and determine next steps in the proceeding,” the prosecutor's office said Monday.
Depardieu was long seen as a national icon in France. He has been a global ambassador for French film and enjoyed international fame with several roles in Hollywood.
The latest episode involving Depardieu came as French cinema is roiled by a #metoo awakening following actor Judith Godrèche’s call for France’s film industry to “face the truth” on sexual violence and physical abuse. She made that appeal during a live broadcast in February of the Cesar Awards ceremony, France’s version of the Oscars.
Barbara Surk reported from Nice, France. AP writer John Leicester in Le Pecq, France, contributed.
Reporters wait outside the police station where French actor Gerard Depardieu is being questioned, Monday, April 29, 2024 in Paris. French media are reporting that police have summoned actor Gerard Depardieu for questioning about allegations made by two women that he sexually assaulted them on movie sets. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
French actor Gerard Depardieu's lawyer Christian Saint-Palais returns at the police stations Monday, April 29, 2024 in Paris. French media are reporting that police have summoned actor Gerard Depardieu for questioning about allegations made by two women that he sexually assaulted them on movie sets. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
French actor Gerard Depardieu's lawyer Christian Saint-Palais answers a call Monday, April 29, 2024 in Paris. French media are reporting that police have summoned actor Gérard Depardieu for questioning about allegations made by two women that he sexually assaulted them on movie sets. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
Police officers stand outside the police station where French actor Gerard Depardieu is expected to be questioned, Monday, April 29, 2024 in Paris. French media are reporting that police have summoned actor Gérard Depardieu for questioning about allegations made by two women that he sexually assaulted them on movie sets. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
View of the police station where French actor Gerard Depardieu is expected to be questioned, Monday, April 29, 2024 in Paris. French media are reporting that police have summoned actor Gérard Depardieu for questioning about allegations made by two women that he sexually assaulted them on movie sets. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
FILE - Actor Gerard Depardieu addresses the media during the press conference for the film 'Saint Amour' at the 2016 Berlinale Film Festival in Berlin, Germany, Friday, Feb. 19, 2016. French media are reporting that police have summoned actor Gérard Depardieu for questioning about allegations made by two women that he sexually assaulted them on movie sets. Broadcaster BFMTV and the daily Le Parisien both reported that the 75-year-old actor was called in for police questioning in Paris on Monday, April 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Axel Schmidt, File)
