Bauer sexual assault accuser indicted for fraud

A woman who accused former major league pitcher Trevor Bauer of sexual assault has been indicted by a grand jury in Arizona on felony charges of fraudulent schemes and theft by extortion.

Darcy Adanna Esemonu “knowingly did obtain a benefit from … Trevor Anthony Bauer by means of fraudulent pretenses, representation, promises, or material omissions,” according to an indictment dated March 19 and filed Monday in the Superior Court of Arizona in Maricopa County. Esemonu also “knowingly did obtain or sought to obtain property or services … by means of a threat to in the future expose a secret or an asserted fact in a social media message or in any other manner” involving another individual, according to the indictment. That individual is not associated with Bauer, his attorney told ESPN.

Esemonu did not respond to messages seeking comment. The prosecutor listed on the indictment could not be reached late Tuesday for comment.

An arraignment hearing in the case is scheduled for April 26 in Maricopa County.

Esemonu filed a lawsuit against Bauer in 2022, later updated in 2023, alleging he sexually assaulted her in 2020, which led to an “unplanned pregnancy.” In court filings, Bauer’s attorneys described the situation as “a single sexual encounter” that “was consensual.” Bauer countersued Esemonu for fraud, saying she was attempting to harass and extort money from him in the wake of similar allegations made by three other women.

In a statement provided to ESPN by his lawyers, Bauer said Esemonu demanded $3.6 million from him and “claimed I forced her to have an abortion” and “when I refused to pay her the $3.6 million she was asking for, she made up a bogus sexual assault claim and filed a civil suit against me.”

Attorneys listed for Esemonu in her lawsuit did not respond to messages seeking comment.

Esemonu reported the alleged assault to the Scottsdale Police Department in December 2022, a week after she filed the suit against Bauer.

According to police reports obtained by ESPN, when Esemonu was interviewed by a detective following her allegation of sexual assault, she “initially stated she had a miscarriage, but later referred to the miscarriage as an abortion.” She later told the detective she did not have an abortion, but miscarried just before going to a clinic located in another state, according to the report. The detective added that the medical records she had provided “do not indicate” whether she “was in fact pregnant.”

In January 2023, one of Bauer’s attorneys, Anne Chapman, also contacted the Scottsdale Police Department to file a criminal complaint accusing Esemonu of “theft by extortion.” According to that complaint, Chapman told police that Esemonu “had demanded financial compensation from her client for a pregnancy and abortion that was alleged to be false.”

The Los Angeles Dodgers cut ties with Bauer in January 2023 after the 2020 Cy Young Award winner received an unprecedented suspension by MLB following allegations of sexual assault by a woman in California and at least two others. Bauer has denied their allegations.