Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer will not face criminal charges by Los Angeles prosecutors. The ruling concludes a five-month review of the case, which stems from sexual assault allegations made by a San Diego woman who sought an eventually-dismissed restraining order against him this summer.
The DA’s office considered but ultimately rejected charges of assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury and sodomy of an unconscious person during the first encounter between the two on April 22 and domestic violence during the second encounter on May 16.
The office said: “After a thorough review of all the available evidence, including the civil restraining order proceedings, witness statements, and the physical evidence, the People are unable to prove the relevant charges beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Following the allegations, Bauer spent the final three months of the 2021 regular season on administrative leave and still could face discipline from MLB. Its commissioner, Rob Manfred, has the autonomy to hand out suspensions under the domestic violence policy.
MLB said its investigation into the situation “is ongoing, and we will comment further at the appropriate time.”
The Dodgers owe Bauer upwards of $47 million in 2022. They declined to comment and said they would not do so until MLB’s investigation wraps up. He joined the team in February 2021 on a unique short-term contract that would’ve paid him up to $85 million over the course of two seasons, but he didn’t pitch beyond June 28 of its first year.
Shortly after the ruling, Bauer posted a seven-or-so-minute video to YouTube titled “The Truth.” In it he firmly denies the allegations and talks about how difficult the past few months have been on him, not before blaming certain segments of the media for so-called unfair reporting.
“She chose to stay the night, both times, and left the following day without any incident or concern,” he says. “And when she left, she certainly did not look anything like the photos that were later attached to her family court declaration and circulated by her lawyers to the media. While this is not the time, nor the place, to address every single lie or falsehood that this woman or her lawyers made to the court, I do want to be crystal clear about a few things: I never punched this woman in the face. I never punched her in the vagina. I never scratched her face. I never had anal sex with her, or sodomized her in any way. I never assaulted her in any way at any time. And while we did have consensual rough sex, the disturbing acts and conduct that she described simply did not occur.”
June 29, the then-27-year-old San Diego woman filed a request for a domestic violence restraining order, detailing the allegations against Bauer over the course of the two encounters at his Pasadena, Calif., home.
The Pasadena Police Department concluded its investigation of Bauer on August 27, and then the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office spent the next five months reviewing the findings.
