Warning: the following article contains descriptions of graphic sexual assault.
Former MLB pitcher Trevor Bauer has been accused of sexual assault by a fourth woman, according to court documents obtained by ESPN and USA Today, an accusation he reportedly denied.
Bauer is currently playing in Japan for the Yokohama DeNA Baystars after being released by the Los Angeles Dodgers following an MLB-record 194-game suspension for violations of the league's domestic violence and sexual assault policy. He was previously accused of sexual assaults by three women, the first in California during the 2021 season then two more in Ohio.
The fourth woman, located in Scottsdale, Ariz., reportedly accused Bauer of raping her, choking her to unconsciousness, getting her pregnant and holding a steak knife to her throat in Dec. 2020 in her lawsuit against the former Cy Young Award winner.
Via USA Today:
"The Defendant swiftly caught me off guard and held me at knife point," her court filing stated. "The Defendant placed his jagged steak knife to my throat. I was stunned and did not dare to move. The Defendant asked me, 'Have you ever been held at knife point?' to which I hesitantly respond, 'No.' The Defendant took a deep breath in and exhaled. The Defendant's steak knife scratched my throat as he released me and I got up from his lap."
Two days later, she described a more violent encounter with him and said he raped her.
"The Defendant then takes my butterfly braids and uses them as rope to choke me unconscious with my hair," her filing states. "When I was conscious yet delirious, I recall being on my back while hearing the Defendant yell unusual sounds/moaning."
The lawsuit reportedly claims the incidents left the accuser bedridden with pain in her scalp, neck and head. She also reportedly amended her complaint with another incident in March 2021 in which Bauer allegedly entered her home, recorded her, disrobed himself and confronting her about her pregnancy.
The Arizona woman is reportedly seeking $3.7 million, as well as an apology to "any women the defendant has sexually humiliated and abused against their consent."
No criminal charges have reportedly been filed against Bauer over the incident, with Scottsdale police listing their report as "inactive." ESPN reported MLB interviewed the woman but opted to not use her during Bauer's arbitration hearing.
How Trevor Bauer responded to fourth sexual assault accuser
Bauer reportedly responded with a countersuit in which his legal team accused the woman of fraud, extortion and fabricating her pregnancy. Bauer's camp has been similarly aggressive against all of his previous accusers, and has filed lawsuitsagainst media outlets as well over their handling of the allegations.
In the countersuit, Bauer's team reportedly said he had a single, consensual encounter with the Arizona woman, in which the condom broke during sex. The woman allegedly claimed she was pregnant and demanded $1.6 million from Bauer to terminate the pregnancy, something his attorneys claim he recorded.
Bauer claimed he declined to pay the woman and said he would support whichever decision she made, and eventually paid her $8,761 for “alleged pregnancy and its subsequent termination.” From USA Today:
"Based on (the woman's) demand letter and failure to provide any medical records to substantiate her pregnancy or termination thereof, Mr. Bauer now believes that (the woman) fabricated her pregnancy to try to extort him for money," his countersuit states.
Per ESPN, his lawyers said the woman used the money on LASIK surgery, which she denied.
The woman reportedly amended her complaint to say she had a miscarriage in April 2021 after deciding to not terminate the pregnancy.
Bauer also disputed the woman's accusation of confronting her in March 2021, claiming he has an audio recording showing it to be false.
Trevor Bauer still trying to return to MLB
Bauer's release from the Dodgers left the team on the hook for $22.5 million in salary it still owed to the right-hander, which represented most of the salary from the final season of the three-year, $102.5 million he signed after winning the Cy Young in 2020.
At that point, Bauer had not pitched since July 2021. Despite being one of the league's top pitchers up to that point and being available for the MLB minimum salary, Bauer apparently didn't find a taker among the league's 30 teams entering the 2023 season.
Bauer instead signed a one-year, $4 million deal with the Baystars, and now holds a 4.00 ERA through seven starts with 56 strikeouts and 10 walks in 45 innings. At one point, he was demoted to the Baystars' farm team for an "adjustment start."
It remains whether to be seen a year spent in Japan will change how MLB teams think about him.
