With the news that prosecutors in Arizona have filed extortion charges against a woman who accused Trevor Bauer of sexual assault, the former Los Angeles Dodgers star and Cy Young Award winner may be one step closer to clearing his name.
That’s the assessment of KTLA 5 News legal analyst and criminal defense attorney Alison Triessl.
The criminal charges against Darcy Adanna Esemonu, 34, were filed after a grand jury in Maricopa County handed down a two-count indictment last month.
Bauer admits to having sex with the former pageant winner in 2020 but says it was consensual. Afterward, Esemonu claimed she was pregnant and demanded a seven-figure payout to, in part, pay for her to have an abortion, Bauer and his lawyers allege.
He refused to pay that amount and Esemonu sued Bauer in 2023, claiming the sex was not consensual.
Believing she was pregnant, Bauer, 33, eventually paid Esemonu $8,761 which she used for a trip to Philadelphia to get LASIK surgery, his lawyers stated in a countersuit.
Triessl says the grand jury and prosecutors ultimately determined that Esemonu was neither pregnant nor a victim.
“What the prosecution is going to allege and what Trevor Bauer will testify to, is that this was a money grab … that this was simply a shakedown,” Triessl told KTLA’s Samantha Cortese.
Esemonu’s lawsuit came after another woman, Lindsey Hill, accused Bauer of raping and beating her at his home in Pasadena, a suburb of Los Angeles, in 2021. That case prompted MLB to place the Dodgers star on administrative leave.
Bauer was suspended for an unprecedented 324 games, which an independent arbitrator reduced to 194 games in December 2022. After Bauer’s suspension ended, the Dodgers cut him and no team picked him up.
In October 2023, Bauer recorded a video defending himself and providing evidence that Hill had also concocted her story to extort money. No charges were filed, and Bauer and Hill eventually settled dueling defamation lawsuits.
Still, Bauer has not stepped foot on a Major League Baseball diamond since 2021 and is currently pitching for Diablos Rojos del Mexico of the Mexican League.
“There is no doubt that there has been a stain on his name and his reputation, and that is certainly why MLB has stayed away from him,” said Triessl. “They should seriously consider these cases with Lindsey Hill and this new woman, who has now been indicted, and take a hard look.”
Bauer acknowledges that two additional women have leveled accusations against him, but neither has brought civil suits or resulted in criminal charges.
Triessl believes that Bauer’s predicament should serve as a lesson to all professional athletes.
“Probably one of the biggest takeaways from all of this … is that there are women who will try and ensnare you and extort you for money. And if they come out with these claims and they smear your reputation, they can destroy your professional sports career.”