Woman disputes claims in Bauer defamation suit

ESPN baseball reporter. Covered the L.A. Rams for ESPN from 2016 to 2018 and the L.A. Angels for MLB.com from 2012 to 2016.

LOS ANGELES — The San Diego woman who initially accused Trevor Bauer of sexual assault, triggering the investigation that prompted an unprecedented two-year suspension, denied that her allegations were “false, fabricated or bogus,” her attorneys wrote in a court filing earlier this week.

Bauer, who appealed his suspension from Major League Baseball and is currently navigating through a lengthy grievance process, filed a defamation lawsuit against the woman in April. The suit claimed she “fabricated allegations of sexual assault,” “pursued bogus criminal and civil actions,” “made false and malicious statements” and “generated a media blitz based on her lies” in an effort to “destroy” Bauer’s reputation, “garner attention for herself” and “extract millions of dollars.”

As part of her response, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, the woman denied that her initial statement to police, in which she accused Bauer of non-consensual rough sex in May of 2021, was “false, misleading or defamatory.” She also denied that she sought a domestic violence restraining order for “improper purpose” and that the photographs of her injuries submitted in court were “altered or filtered,” among dozens of other allegations made by Bauer’s legal team in an initial suit.

The woman — whom ESPN has chosen not to name — originally alleged that Bauer took consensual rough sex too far during two encounters at his Pasadena, California, home in April and May 2021, alleging that he choked her unconscious on multiple occasions, sodomized her without consent and punched her all over her body, leaving her with injuries that prompted medical attention. Bauer and his attorneys have firmly denied the allegations, calling them “fraudulent” and “baseless.”

The woman was denied a permanent restraining order following a four-day hearing in August, and six months later, in February 2022, the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office decided not to pursue criminal charges. But MLB, which has the autonomy to suspend players for “just cause” under its domestic violence policy, announced a 324-game suspension for Bauer on April 29 — five days after he accused the San Diego woman of defaming him.

MLB has not released the findings of its investigation, but three women have publicly accused Bauer of sexual assault, including two women from Ohio who relayed their experiences to The Washington Post. Bauer publicly denied those allegations, as well.

Bauer, 31, joined the Dodgers on a three-year, $102 million contract in February 2021 but hasn’t pitched beyond the first half of his first season. If his suspension is upheld, he will lose roughly the last $60 million on his deal.

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