Judge orders closure of sex assault case against former Pirates pitcher

A Westmoreland County judge has ordered the closure of the criminal case that ended the Major League Baseball career of former Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Felipe Vazquez.

Vazquez, 34, was convicted of the sexual assault of a Scottdale teenager and served about four years in prison before he was deported in December 2023.

Common Please Judge Scott Mears this week ordered the county’s probation and parole office to close the case Sept. 17, nearly four years after Vazquez was sentenced to serve two to four years in prison and an additional two years on probation.

Court records indicate Vazquez served nearly all of his prison term before he was released from custody and removed from the county.

A Westmoreland County jury in May 2021 convicted Vazquez of 15 offenses in connection with a two-year sexual relationship he had with a then 13-year-old Scottdale girl beginning in 2017.

He was convicted of statutory sexual assault, unlawful contact or communication with a minor, indecent assault and corruption of a minor.

The teen testified at a four-day trial that she initially reached out to Vazquez through social media for a birthday greeting. She testified he later pursued a relationship that included a sexual encounter.

Jurors acquitted Vazquez of 10 offenses related to sexually explicit text messages, pictures and videos prosecutors said he and the teen exchanged over the two years before his arrest in September 2019. The images were found by police on the pitcher’s laptop when they questioned him at his Strip District home.

Vazquez, an All-Star relief pitcher for the Pirates, never appeared again for the team following his arrest.

According to internet accounts, he is pitching for a professional team in Venezuela.

Records indicate Vazquez owes more than $12,300 in delinquent court costs and fees in Westmoreland County, which will be part of a civil judgment. He was ordered to make monthly payments of no less than $25.

Vazquez is also facing an $11.4 million judgment stemming from a federal lawsuit filed in Florida by his victim in the Westmoreland County criminal case.

“The purposeful process and tactics employed by defendant Vazquez, in and of themselves infused a false sense of fault in Jane Doe for her own abuses, and otherwise inflicted severe emotional distress and mental health harm on Jane Doe which constituted child abuse…” the lawsuit alleged.

Vazquez’s accuser is still attempting to collect the judgment. According to court documents, attorneys for the victim claim Vazquez attempted to shield his assets through his sister, who lives in Florida.

In three-plus seasons with the Pirates, the two-time All-Star reliever compiled a 15-9 record, 86 saves and a 2.17 ERA. Prior to the 2018 season, Vazquez signed a contract extension worth at least $22 million and the potential to earn up $41 million over six years.