By CNN
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A woman who filed a lawsuit against former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer, accusing him of sexual assault and battery, is now facing criminal fraud charges. Darcy Adanna Esemonu is accused of engaging in “fraudulent schemes and artifices” against Bauer and a second person.
In the indictment handed up last month in Maricopa County, Arizona, Esemonu is charged with obtaining some undisclosed benefit from Bauer and another person “by means of fraudulent pretenses, representation, promises, or material omissions.” It also charges her with theft by extortion regarding the second person.
The indictment does not say if Bauer has a connection to the other alleged victim.
In a police report released Tuesday by Scottsdale police, Bauer alleged that Esemonu told him that she was pregnant and demanded $1.6 million in exchange for her getting an abortion.
Bauer’s attorney Anne Chapman told police that Bauer did pay Esemonu approximately $10,000 for “medical expenses, prenatal vitamins, and car services related to the pregnancy.” In the police report, Chapman alleges that Esemonu was not actually pregnant at the time the demand for money was made.
Esemonu’s attorney, Doug Zanes, did not respond to multiple requests for comment on the allegations.
Bauer, a 33-year-old Cy Young Award winner, has not played professional baseball in the US since June 2021, when a different woman claimed he had sexually assaulted her. Bauer has never faced criminal charges, but was suspended by Major League Baseball in 2022 for what the league said was violating MLB’s joint domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse policy. The league reinstated him in December 2022, but the Dodgers cut him from the team in January 2023.
Esemonu filed a civil lawsuit against Bauer in June 2023. She accused the baseball player of assaulting her several times, including sexually assaulting her in December 2020. Her complaint says she became pregnant, and he told her in March 2021 he “would not continue in a relationship with her if she decided to keep the baby.” Esemonu said she later miscarried.
Bauer countersued Esemonu last year, accusing her of fraud and extortion. Both suits are still pending.
When reached for reaction to the indictment against Esemonu, Bauer’s attorneys referred CNN to a video statement he released on YouTube.
In it, Bauer denied ever having nonconsensual sex with Esemonu, whom he refers to by her middle name, and calls allegations against him “lies” and “an attempt to take my money.”
“If there comes a time in the future where I need to defend myself further, I will not hesitate to do so,” Bauer said. “For now, there is no reason to speak further on this topic, though, because outside of Adanna – who’s now been indicted with felony fraud – there are no claims against me, no ongoing investigations, and no outstanding lawsuits.”
Bauer was first accused of sexual assault by a San Diego woman, Lindsey Hill, in 2021. Prosecutors declined to file charges, and Bauer filed a defamation lawsuit against Hill in 2022, saying they had engaged in “consensual rough sex.” The defamation case and a counterclaim from Hill were settled out of court, and Hill’s lawyer told the Washington Post no money was exchanged between the parties in the settlement.
