SANTA CRUZ – San Francisco Giants’ third baseman Pablo Sandoval will not be charged with sex assault, Santa Cruz District Attorney Bob Lee said Monday.
Sandoval, a 25-year-old Venezuela native nicknamed “Kung Fu Panda,” was accused last month of sexually assaulting a woman he met a bar in downtown Santa Cruz.
The 21-year-old woman, who lives in Santa Cruz, told sheriff’s deputies she left the bar with Sandoval and went with him and a small group of people to the Seascape Resort in Aptos in the early morning hours of June 1.
She reported being sexually assaulted around 4:30 a.m.
The Sheriff’s Office investigated the allegations, speaking with Sandoval and his attorney, conducting numerous interviews and examining physical and biological evidence that was sent to a state laboratory for testing. Sheriff’s investigators concluded last week that there was insufficient evidence to arrest Sandoval in the case.
Those findings were then turned over to Lee’s office for review, who said Monday that no charges will be filed.
“The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Investigation Bureau did an extensive investigation including interviewing witnesses, serving search warrants, reviewing security camera video tapes, text messages, toxicology reports and analyzing physical evidence. Based on review of this thorough investigation, the District Attorney’s Office has reached this same conclusion,” Lee said.
Lee was brought in on the case soon after the Sheriff’s Office began its investigation and he said he was very familiar with it.
“The nature and number of the complainant’s inconsistencies leaves us unable to establish her version of events beyond a reasonable doubt,” Lee said Monday. “Nothing from the physical evidence and other witnesses helped corroborate her story. All the evidence that might be relevant to the contested issues of force and lack of consent is simply inconclusive.”
Sandoval’s San Jose-based attorney, Eric Geffon, said he and his client were pleased that the prosecutors concurred with the Sheriff’s Office.
“We felt this was the right decision all along,” he said.
