Pittsburgh Pirates reliever Felipe Vázquez was arrested Tuesday morning in Pittsburgh on charges related to pornography and solicitation of a child, according to a news release from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
The authorities began investigating Vázquez last month after they “obtained information that Vázquez had a reported sexual relationship with a 13-year-old female victim who resides in Lee County.” She is now 15 and had still been communicating with Vázquez by text message. Pennsylvania and Florida law enforcement agents got a warrant and searched his residence in Pittsburgh on Tuesday and took “several electronic devices.”
According to the news release, Vázquez sent text messages to the teen “suggesting they would meet for sex after his baseball season was over.”
In a statement, Pirates president Frank Coonelly said the commissioner’s office will put Vázquez on administrative leave. Vazquez’s agent did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Vázquez, 28, is a left-handed reliever from Venezuela who made his major league debut in 2015, for the Washington Nationals. He was traded to the Pirates in 2016 and signed a four-year, $22 million extension with the team last year.