Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Felipe Vazquez was arrested this week for his alleged sexual encounter with a 13-year-old girl. And now Vazquez is admitting it happened. According to a report by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (via Sporting News), police said Vazquez admitted to having a sexual encounter with the girl. The incident happened in August 2017 and when Vazquez was interviewed by police, he said it was “sex but not really.” The report went into detail about the encounter that happened on the driveway of the girl’s house in Scottdale which is just southeast of Pittsburgh.
After the incident, the girl’s family moved to Florida and that is when the mother found out the girl and Vazquez were still talking to each other via electronic communication. The mother called the authorities and it led to Vazquez’s arrest on Tuesday.
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Shortly after the arrest, the Pirates held a meeting at their clubhouse to talk about the situation.
“These allegations are very, very serious,” pitcher Chris Archer said shortly after the meeting ended. “The term that was used earlier was heinous. Again, right now, as far as we know, they’re just allegations. There’s not a lot we can say.”
He added, “I do have a 14-year-old sister. So, it’s something that hits home.”
Archer went on to say he hopes everything gets resolved as quickly as possible so they can move on from it.
“We’re human beings. You can feel it in your stomach,” he said. “There’s definitely an uneasiness. We’ve addressed it, so that feels a little bit better. For the sake of the family, for the sake of the organization and for the sake of Felipe, we hope this gets resolved. We can all put it behind us as soon as possible.”
Right now, Vazquez is being held at the Allegheny County Jail without bond. He’s expected to have an arraignment on Wednesday, and he will likely face Pennsylvania charges before he’s sent to Florida.
Vazquez has been with the Pirates since 2016 after spending his first year and a half with the Washington Nationals. This season, Vazquez has a 5-1 record with an ERA of 1.65. His production in 2019 led to him being named to the All-Star team. He was named to his first All-Star game in 2018 when he recorded a 4-2 record with an ERA of 2.70. Vazquez also recorded 89 strikeouts and allowed four home runs in 70 innings of work.
