A woman who accused former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer of sexual assault has been indicted on felony fraud and theft charges in Arizona.
As reported by ESPN, Darcy Adanna Esemonu was recently indicted by a grand jury in Arizona for allegedly defrauding Bauer, whom she accused of sexually assaulting her in a 2020 incident. According to the indictment, dated March 19 and filed on April 15, she "knowingly did obtain a benefit from ... Trevor Anthony Bauer by means of fraudulent pretenses, representation, promises, or material omissions."
In the lawsuit she filed against Bauer in 2022, and updated in 2023, Esemonu said he assaulted her in 2020, which led to an "unplanned pregnancy." Bauer denied the allegations but he had a "single sexual encounter" with Esemonu that was "consensual." He responded to the lawsuit with a countersuit and accused her of trying to extort him following similar allegations made by other women.
Per the indictment, Esemonu "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." Bauer said she asked for $3.6 million and filed the civil suit when he refused. He also said she "claimed I forced her to have an abortion."
In police documents obtained by ESPN last year, she initially told detectives she suffered a miscarriage but later said she had an abortion.
In a video posted to his YouTube page, Bauer reiterated his claim he had "one plain sexual encounter" with Esemonu in December 2020. "Her m.o. is clear. Lie to men to get their money," he said in the video, which was recorded in a hotel room. "Extort them if she must. When they refuse to pay, stop paying, or stop giving her what she wants, go to the police, accuse them of sexual assault, and file a civil suit against them to retaliate."
In the video, he also mentioned the lawsuit filed by Lindsey Hill, who was the first woman to accuse him of assault. The two settled the lawsuit last year without exchanging any money. Following the settlement, he shared alleged texts and video, which he claimed prove his innocence.
"At this point, I’m not sure what else I can possibly do to prove my innocence in all of this. I did not do what I was accused of, and every institution that our society has entrusted to rule on issues like these, like courts, judges, law enforcement officers, prosecutors, etc, they all agree with me," he said.
The Dodgers suspended Bauer in 2022 following an investigation into several allegations. He was released by the team in January 2023 and has since played for the Yokohama DeNA BayStars in Japan, and Diablos Rojos del México of the Mexican League.
