Editor’s note: This story contains graphic accounts of domestic violence and sexual assault. If you or someone you know is a survivor of sexual assault or domestic violence, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or the Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233.
Trevor Bauer’s administrative leave has been extended again, a league source told Sports Illustrated’s Stephanie Apstein.
It was originally scheduled to expire April 16; however, the players association and MLB agreed to extend it through April 22. The Dodgers star last pitched June 28 and was placed on administrative leave in July following allegations of sexual misconduct, which he has repeatedly denied.
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In February, the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office announced that Bauer would not face criminal charges. The pitcher was being investigated by L.A. authorities after a woman who said she met Bauer on two different occasions described violent encounters that she said began as consensual sex. She left the encounters with various injuries, including head and face trauma, but Bauer denied the allegations, saying she had asked for rough sex.
She said that the pitcher choked her unconscious with her own hair and penetrated her anally without consent in April 2021. The woman detailed a similar incident that happened in May of that year, when, according to her account, Bauer choked her unconscious and was repeatedly punching her in the head when she regained consciousness.
The woman sought a five-year restraining order against Bauer—the maximum under California law. The judge dissolved a temporary order Aug. 19 and denied the five-year order, saying he is not a future threat to the woman in California.
The court ultimately found that the woman’s claims were “materially misleading,” and Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Dianna Gould-Saltman said the only evidence of anything happening while the woman was unconscious was from being “hit on the butt.”
Additionally, Gould-Saltman’s focus on consent related only to whether the woman consented to having rough sex with Bauer, which she did. “If she set limits and he exceeded them, this case would’ve been clear,” the judge said. “But she set limits without considering all the consequences, and [Bauer] did not exceed limits that the petitioner set. … They were consequences of the acts which she did consent to, including being choked.”
Following the DA’s office announcing its decision, Bauer said in a statement, in part, “I had consensual sex with this woman on two occasions at my residence in Pasadena, during which we engaged in rough sex. This is something that she brought up, we discussed together and both agreed to engage in. We established rules and boundaries, and I followed them. On both occasions, she consented beforehand when we established those boundaries. She also repeatedly consented during sex, when I asked her multiple times if she was enjoying herself and if she wanted to continue. In fact, she continued to direct me as to what she wanted in no uncertain terms.”
Although Bauer will not face criminal charges, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred can still hand down a punishment and suspend him under the league’s and the players association’s joint domestic violence policy, which can be read here.
