Editor’s Note: The following story deals with sexual assault, and may be distressing for some readers.
If you or someone you know is in need of support, those in Canada can find province-specific centres, crisis lines and services here. For readers in America, a list of resources and references for survivors and their loved ones can be found here.
PHOENIX — An Arizona woman has accused former major league pitcher Trevor Bauer of sexual assault, alleging in a lawsuit updated this week that he held a knife at her throat and choked her until she passed out during a rape that left her pregnant in late 2020.
Bauer was never arrested or charged and he has countersued, denying the allegations and accusing the woman of faking a pregnancy and trying to extort money from him.
“Trevor Bauer categorically denies this woman’s unhinged allegations,” the player’s co-agents, Jon Fetterolf and Rachel Luba, said in a statement Wednesday.
They said she had made several million-dollar demands against Bauer over two years, prompting him to file a criminal complaint against her.
Scottsdale Police Officer Aaron Bolin confirmed Wednesday that Bauer filed a criminal complaint on Jan. 24 alleging the woman was trying to extort him, but detectives did not recommend charges to Maricopa County prosecutors. Bolin said there were also no charges recommended after the woman filed a complaint against Bauer on Dec. 20, alleging a sexual assault two years before.
The woman’s accusations are laid out in a civil suit updated this week in Maricopa County Superior Court. She first sued the former Cy Young Award winner in December, and Bauer countersued in April.
The Associated Press does not typically identify people who say they have been victims of sexual assault. The woman’s attorney did not immediately respond Wednesday to a voicemail seeking additional comment.
In his countersuit, Bauer said he had one consensual sexual encounter with the woman in 2020. He said the woman later said she was pregnant and demanded $1.6 million to end the pregnancy.
Bauer said he refused to pay that amount, but told the woman he would support her decision concerning the pregnancy and pay any medical costs, as well as child support. His said in his lawsuit that he ultimately paid $8,761 for the expenses related to the woman’s reported pregnancy and its subsequent termination.
The woman said in an updated complaint filed Tuesday that she ultimately decided not to terminate the pregnancy, but had a miscarriage.
Bauer was suspended by Major League Baseball after a woman he met in San Diego alleged that he had beaten and sexually abused her in 2021. He denied the charges and said that anything that happened between them was consensual. Bauer was not arrested or charged.
After Bauer’s suspension ended, the Los Angeles Dodgers cut him and no team picked him up. He now plays in Japan.
