Pirates’ Vázquez is arrested on child sex charges

PITTSBURGH >> Pittsburgh Pirates closer Felipe Vázquez was arrested Tuesday on multiple felony charges, including statutory sexual assault, soliciting a child and pornography, and was placed on administrative leave by Major League Baseball.

Vázquez was taken into custody by Pennsylvania State Police on one count of computer pornography/solicitation of a child and one count of providing obscene material to minors, both felonies, stemming from an investigation in Florida. He was later charged in Westmoreland County, east of Pittsburgh, with felony counts of statutory sexual assault, unlawful contact with a minor and corruption of minors and a misdemeanor count of indecent assault of a person under 16 years old.

It was not immediately known whether the charges in Pennsylvania were related to or independent of the Florida investigation.

“We are in the process of reviewing both the Pennsylvania and Florida charging documents, as well as the underlying facts of the matter,” Vázquez’s lawyers, Jay Reisinger and Michael Comber, said in a statement. “At this time, any comment would be premature.”

Vázquez was arraigned via video from the Allegheny County jail, wearing a dark-colored sweatshirt and glasses, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. He was denied bond, with the judge saying she believed Vázquez was a flight risk, the newspaper reported.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement said it began investigating in August after learning of an alleged sexual relationship between Vázquez and a teenage girl living in Lee County, Fla. Vázquez, who lives in Saint Cloud, Fla, and the victim began the relationship when the girl was 13, authorities said.

The girl, now 15, allegedly received a text message from Vázquez in July in which he was performing a sex act. Vázquez also texted the girl to ask if she wanted to meet for a sexual encounter following the end of the baseball season, according to police.

According to the affidavit, while Vazquez’s face is not visible in the images sent to the victim, authorities were able to identify him by matching tattoos in the picture against tattoos of Vazquez they discovered on the internet. Vázquez