Bauer accused of sexual assault by fourth woman
A fourth woman has accused former MLB pitcher Trevor Bauer of sexual assault in a lawsuit filed in Arizona. Bauer has countersued the woman for fraud, saying she is attempting to harass and extort money from him in the wake of similar allegations made by three other women.
In an amended complaint filed Tuesday, the woman said she had an “unplanned pregnancy” after Bauer “violently sexually assaulted” her in December 2020. Bauer’s attorneys, in court filings, described the situation as “a single sexual encounter” that “was consensual.”
The woman, whom ESPN has chosen not to name, stated in her initial complaint that she had visited Bauer at his home in Scottsdale, Arizona, several times before the assault. During those earlier visits, he held a “jagged steak knife to her throat” and choked her several times, according to her initial complaint filed in December 2022.
She also accused Bauer of forcibly removing her clothes, sexually assaulting her and slapping her on December 13, 2020, before he used her butterfly braids “as a rope to choke me unconscious with my hair.” In the amended complaint, her attorneys stated that the assault resulted in an unplanned pregnancy.
The woman also said in the amended complaint that Bauer “instructed that she should not keep any records about what had occurred, including the pregnancy, and that they should keep it private between themselves.” Her attorneys state in the court records that she “became suicidal and went to the hospital” in the weeks after the assault and that Bauer later “slammed” her onto a computer, breaking the screen, when she was about three months pregnant. She “decided not to terminate the pregnancy” but had a miscarriage in April 2021, according to her filing Tuesday.
Bauer “categorically denies” the woman’s allegations, his co-agents Jon Feterrolf and Rachel Luba said in a statement Wednesday.
The statement from Bauer’s representatives 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 told The Associated Press on 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 attorneys did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Court records show Bauer’s attorneys first denied her assault allegations in April and countersued for fraud, labeling the woman’s lawsuit “harassment.” They said Bauer has recordings of their conversations, which show the woman asked for “$1.6 million to terminate the pregnancy.” Bauer provided the woman more than $8,700 to reimburse her for “medical expenses purportedly related to her pregnancy,” according to his court filings, but the woman never provided “any medical records to substantiate her pregnancy or termination.” Instead, Bauer’s lawyers said in his countersuit that she had LASIK surgery, which the woman denied.
Bauer’s countersuit stated the woman “fabricated her pregnancy to try to extort him for money,” noting that she hired attorneys to send a demand letter for $3.6 million following allegations of sexual assault made by a woman in California.
The Los Angeles Dodgers cut ties with Bauer in January after the former Cy Young Award winner received an unprecedented suspension following allegations of sexual assault by the woman in California and at least two others. Bauer has denied their allegations.
The Dodgers’ decision came two weeks after an independent arbitrator reduced Bauer’s suspension from 324 games to 194, reinstating him immediately but docking his pay for another 50 games to begin the 2023 season.
An MLB source told ESPN that the league interviewed the Arizona woman but ultimately did not use her evidence in the arbitration hearing, relying instead on evidence presented by others, including the woman in California.
Once the highest-paid player in MLB, Bauer, 32, is currently pitching for the Yokohama DeNA BayStars in Japan.
The Arizona woman is suing Bauer for assault, battery and emotional distress, asking a judge to award her punitive damages “to punish Defendant for his conduct and to deter Defendant from engaging in such conduct in the future.”
Bauer’s countersuit accuses the woman of fraud relating to the $8,700 he gave her for medical expenses and asks for punitive damages and attorneys’ fees.
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Scott Blaney has scheduled discovery to take place throughout the majority of this year, with both sides agreeing they will be ready for a jury trial by May 2024.
ESPN’s William Weinbaum and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
