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Charges dropped in child sex assault case against ex-Texas Rangers pitcher John Wetteland

Fort Worth Star-Telegram - 3/27/2023

Sexual assault charges against former Rangers pitcher John Wetteland were dismissed on March 23, more than six months after a judge declared a mistrial in the Denton County criminal case.

Wetteland was accused of molesting a boy three times more than a decade ago. He pleaded not guilty to the three counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child.

The Denton County District Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the case being dismissed.

The trial against Wetteland began Aug. 30 in 462nd District Court. Witnesses, family members and Wetteland himself testified before the jury and Judge Lee Ann Breading. On Sept. 2, jurors deliberated for several hours and told the judge multiple times they could not reach a unanimous decision. Breading pressed the jury to keep trying to reach a verdict, but at about 5 p.m., she declared a mistrial.

According to authorities, Wetteland was accused of sexually assaulting the child three times between 2004 and 2006, starting when the child was 4 years old.

According to the child’s mother, the child first told her in 2016 — when he was 16 — that Wetteland raped him as a child. She said she did not report the allegation to police. In his testimony, the alleged victim said he did not want to report the abuse and only wanted an apology from Wetteland, according to the Denton Record-Chronicle.

In his testimony, the alleged victim said he looked up to Wetteland and wanted to please him. The first time Wetteland sexually abused him, he said, he was confused. The abuse impacted him deeply into his teenage years, he testified, causing incontinence, suicidal thoughts and self-harm.

When the boy was 18, his mother testified, she told him to write a letter about the abuse and planned to send it to people connected with Wetteland.

Argyle school district’s former chief of police read the letter to the jury during the trial. The letter, which the accuser wrote in Google Docs, detailed allegations that Wetteland sexually assaulted him in a shower.

According to prosecutor Lindsey Sheguit, the document was saved on the Argyle school Google account, and the school district’s monitoring system flagged it. Employees discovered the letter and reported it to the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.

Derek Adame, one of Wetteland’s defense attorneys, and defense attorney Caroline Simone argued the abuse allegations are not true and were possibly fabricated by a man named Chris. Chris is not biologically related to the alleged victim but lived with him when he was a teenager.

Three members of the Wetteland family testified that they also believe Chris instructed the alleged victim to write the letter, the Denton Record-Chronicle reported. They described Chris as aggressive and jealous of Wetteland.

A grand jury indicted Wetteland, who lives in Trophy Club, in 2019. Bartonville police have said DFPS contacted the department about the case on Jan. 9, 2019.

Wetteland played for the Rangers from 1997 to 2000, as well as for the New York Yankees and Seattle Mariners, and is in the Rangers’ Hall of Fame.

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