Wander Franco Suffers a "Mental Health Situation" Three Months After Child Sexual Abuse Conviction

In December 2023, Tampa Bay Rays player Wander Franco vanished from the spotlight, and not because he was seeking a break from media or public attention. Instead, it was believed he had fled to the Dominican Republic amidst accusations of engaging in a relationship with an underage girl.

Less than two years later, Franco was found guilty of sexual abuse of a minor in the Dominican Republic. The baseball player was 21 years old, and the victim was just 14. According to ESPN, he received a suspended two-year sentence. The mother of the victim was also convicted of sexually trafficking her daughter, which resulted in a 10-year prison sentence. In September 2025, Franco was sent to a mental health facility following an incident. Here's what happened.

According to The Athletic, Franco was taken to a private health clinic in the Dominican Republic after he suffered what authorities are calling a "mental health situation." Franco's father contacted local police and asked them to send someone to his home in Baní, where his son was living.

Video footage of the event, which was screen captured and shared online but has since been deleted, shows Franco saying in Spanish that the police want to take him.

The baseball player was recording the police officer, but dropped his cell phone while doing so. Franco is then heard shouting at the police to show him their hands. A few days prior to this incident, Franco went on Instagram Live, claiming he had been" robbed of one million pesos at a hotel in the municipality of Sosúa, per the Listín Diario.

He also threatened to attack the owner of Hispaniola Beach in Sosúa. He was not arrested by the police but was sent to a mental health facility.

Domestic reports about the allegations against Franco initially came from the local paper Listin Diario.

Indeed, it has being widely claimed that the Santo Domingo Prosecutor's Office for Children and Adolescents raided two homes in the country looking for the baseball player in an attempt to question him about at least one inappropriate relationship with a minor.

By July 2024, new details emerged, as reported by AP News, indicating that Wander has been charged (in the Dominican Republic) with sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl in the Dominican Republic.

The indictment noted that the underage girl's mother was paid thousands of dollars by Franco "to consent to the abuse, which lasted four months."

Franco met the girl online and had sex with her twice in December 2022. The baseball player sent a helicopter to pick her up from her home in Puerto Plata, bringing her to where he lived in Bani. During the raid of Franco's home, authorities found $68,500 in U.S. dollars and another 800,000 Dominican pesos (around $13,700).

Major League Baseball is reportedly still investigating these crimes despite Franco's conviction in the Dominican Republic.