Major League Baseball investigators interviewed a woman who said free agent outfielder Yasiel Puig sexually assaulted her in a Staples Center bathroom, but took no further action due to her desire to remain anonymous and await further evidence to emerge . Of the lawsuit, an MLB source told ESPN.
With the start of the baseball season weeks ahead, Puig, 30, remains out of work, at least in part because of the charges, according to a source at a team headquarters.
The woman, identified only as Jane Roe in federal court documents, sued Puig last October, saying the former Dodgers outfielder followed her to a bathroom after a Lakers game in October 2018, “ pinning her down with one poor ‘to keep her from leaving. , he touched her and masturbated in front of her.
The woman has not reported it to the police. Puig has not been charged with any crime. He denies the allegations in a court file and also asks a judge to dismiss the lawsuit.
Several teams reportedly showing interest in Puig this spring have factored the allegations into their decisions.
“Nobody wants that headache,” a source at headquarters told ESPN.
Puig’s attorney declined to comment on the lawsuit or make Puig available for comment. His agent Rachel Luba also declined to comment.
In November, a Major League Baseball attorney interviewed the woman accusing Puig and gave her a list of resources available for sexual assault victims, the woman’s attorney, Taylor Rayfield, told ESPN.
Rayfield said in a follow-up to his November interview with his client, he was told by a Major League Baseball attorney that the league could not investigate the case further because the woman refused to give her name.
Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred can discipline players for acts of domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse and has done so more than ten times since the league passed new policies in 2015.
They claim to have a policy of personal behavior. Well, what more could that violate than what happened here? ‘ Rayfield said, adding, “I would like them to take action against the players and hold them accountable and not allow people who are part of their organizations to sexually and physically abuse them.”
An MLB source confirmed that an investigator had spoken to the woman. The source also said Puig has not been interviewed about the allegations, as MLB typically does not approach a player until after a thorough investigation. The case remains open, and the source said MLB investigators are waiting to see what details emerge from the lawsuit.
In an interview with ESPN, the woman spoke at length about her meeting with Puig.
ESPN does not typically identify individuals involved in sexual assault cases unless they have chosen to make their names public. The 32-year-old woman from California told ESPN that she has a company that connects her with a variety of professional athletes. She asked to be identified as “Jane” before the interview.
Jane said she met Puig in the President’s Room, a room under the bleachers on the south side of the Staples Center that was only open to fans with ground floor seating and a short list of VIPs and celebrities who routinely attend Lakers games. . Jane attended the game with two other people, a friend and her fiancé.
He said he had never met Puig and did not recognize him when he first approached her at rest, commented on the hat he was wearing and started a conversation.
‘He was just trying to hang out with me. He was flirty, ”he said.
A few minutes later, Jane said that Puig, who was on the other side of the room at the time, made a gesture at her, pointed two fingers at her eyes, then at her as if to say, “I’m looking at you. He said he dismissed the interaction as a more harmless flirtation.
After the match, Jane went to the bathroom, where she said Puig was following her and physically immobilizing her by immobilizing her with his forearm. The lawsuit says that Puig tried to take off her clothes, touched her, exposed herself, and then masturbated in front of her.
Later that night, Puig texted Jane saying, ‘Private between me and me [sic] “Everything that happens, nobody needs to know,” said a text message appearing in court documents. It was the first of several text messages Puig sent over the next few days in an attempt to meet Jane in private, he said.
Jane said she can’t remember exactly when she gave Puig her phone number, but given her job, it wouldn’t have been unusual to do so.
In large part, she never went to the police because she tried to forget about the incident, her lawyer said. Jane says she only spoke to her fiancé and her younger brother about what happened to him.
Jane’s brother told ESPN that he remembers getting a call on game night or the next day and was surprised to hear his sister “desperate.” She said she only communicated partial details at first.
She was like, ‘Yeah he was obsessed with me and he followed me to the bathroom. “He sounded like he was a super scary guy trying to catch her,” said Jane’s brother.
He said he remembers his sister describing Puig as “intimidating” and “aggressive” and that Jane was “very scared,” but said Jane never described a sexual assault.
It was only after the lawsuit was filed in October and the media coverage that followed, mainly in the Los Angeles area, that his brother realized the full extent of the allegations, he said.
In the weeks and months that followed the alleged Staples Center incident, Jane said, every day felt like “there was a nightmare” in her head. She said the meeting made her more irritable and flared up faster, which her brother also said was noticeable, and strained her relationship with her fiancé. Jane also said she lost her sense of personal security.
“To be honest, I wouldn’t use a bathroom in public places anymore because I was afraid someone would follow me there. And when you start thinking about that sort of thing, it changes the shape of your whole world … It’s almost like being paranoid wherever you go. ”
In a filing for dismissal of the lawsuit in January, Puig’s lawyers argued that Jane could not have borne the legal burden “to determine that anonymity is appropriate.” According to the filing, anonymity is granted “only in the rare case where the need for anonymity outweighs the harm to the accused and the right to open a court”.
Puig’s attorneys claim that allowing Jane to remain anonymous gives “unfounded credibility” to her allegations and “the effect of all these statements is that Mr. Puig will be convicted of public opinion even before Puig has a chance to appear. to defend themselves. “
In his response, Rayfield presented court documents describing the attempts to disclose his client’s identity as “nothing more than a thinly veiled attempt on the part of the defendant to humiliate, harass and punish Puig.” [Jane] … in the hope that their claims against him will be dropped. “
“I think it’s an intimidation tactic,” said Jane. “I feel like they are attacking me. I feel like they are victimizing me again and I don’t understand why anyone would do that.”
The risk of being publicly identified is “a major deterrent for survivors to report,” said Scott Berkowitz, president of the RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) organization. In the focus groups and polls, “anonymity is always number one”. on the list of survivors’ concerns, he said.
While Jane’s lawsuit continues, Puig remains unemployed.
Puig hit the scene with the Los Angeles Dodgers in June 2013, leading the majors with a .436 batting average that month and earning the National League Player of the Month honors.
Arrested twice in 2013 for reckless driving, Puig was investigated by MLB in 2015 after falling out with a janitor and accused of pushing his sister into a Miami bar. No charges were filed and he was not sanctioned.
The last time he wore a Major League uniform was in 2019, when he played in 100 games for the Cincinnati Reds. Puig played 49 games for the Cleveland Indians after a mid-season trade. He played no more than five games in the Winter League in the Dominican Republic during the shortened 2020 season. His positive COVID-19 test in July ruined a possible deal he was expected to sign with the Atlanta Braves.
A federal judge in California is considering the dismissal motion and the issue of Jane’s anonymity. Lawyers for both parties said they do not know when the judge will deliver its verdict. Jane said her decision to file the lawsuit was motivated in part by a desire to hold Puig accountable.
“I felt like he was a predator to me and that someone with that mindset could do that to someone else. I honestly don’t want him to be able to do this to anyone else.
If you are a victim of sexual assault, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800-656-4673 or visit the https://www.rainn.org portal of the National Rape, Abuse & Incest Network (Rape , Abuse & Incest). Incest National Network).
ESPN reporter TJ Quinn contributed to this report.