Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan reported Monday that authorities in the Dominican Republic are investigating allegations that a group of Texas Rangers prospects sexually assaulted an underage teammate in a “hazing incident.”
Police questioned eight prospects and informed a Dominican court they intend to charge at least four of the players with a crime. Passan wrote that Rougned Odor’s brother and Yohel Pozo are among those at the focus of the police investigation.
Prospects from Colombia and Venezuela were the victims of the hazing rituals, and some were under the age of 18, according to Passan, who detailed a brief Snapchat video showing one specific occurrence:
Video of the alleged assault, which took place toward the end of October, was captured and posted on Snapchat, according to sources. A 10-second clip of video, obtained by Yahoo Sports, shows the alleged victim in a Rangers shirt and Rangers shorts laying on a bed with his arms held behind his back and his legs pinned down. At least four men are seen in addition to the alleged victim, whose penis is exposed, grabbed and maneuvered underneath a hand towel. All of the men in the video, including the alleged victim, are seen laughing.
Citing a report from Dominican media outlet Metro, Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal wrote last Thursday that Dominican authorities arrested three Rangers prospects from the organization’s Dominican Summer League team several months ago.
Last week, the Rangers provided a statement:
The Texas Rangers became aware of an incident at our Academy in the Dominican Republic and we acted promptly to open an investigation. We have reported the incident and are cooperating fully with Major League Baseball and the authorities in the Dominican Republic. With this being an ongoing investigation, we will have no further comment at this time.
After being shown evidence of the alleged hazing, the Rangers alerted MLB to the incident, and the players involved were then placed on administrative leave as part of the minor league domestic violence policy.
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