Kapler explains not telling police about 2015 minor-league incident

Gabe Kapler has responded to a recent Washington Post report that states he didn't contact police after a teenage girl told him that a pair of Los Angeles Dodgers minor leaguers were present when two women assaulted her.

The 17-year-old emailed Kapler, who was serving as the Dodgers' director of player development at the time, about the assault. She later told police that one of the players had sexually assaulted her, but Kapler maintains he didn't know about that part of her account until recently.

Kapler, now the manager of the Philadelphia Phillies, posted a statement on Kaplifestyle.com explaining why he didn't contact police after her email.

The question of why I didn't report this to the police is a fair one. Admittedly, there were many thoughts going through my mind at the time. But above all, the victim's grandmother asked for my reassurance that I wouldn't 'turn (the victim) in' before the victim would share what had happened. After the victim shared her description of the night, she sent me a follow-up email and said she didn't want to talk about it any further. My feeling at the time was that the victim should have the right to make the decision about what she wanted to do. Perhaps I should have taken it out of her hands, but my intention was to respect the victim and her wishes.

The girl told Kapler she became extremely intoxicated while partying with two women and two minor leaguers in the team's system and said the women subsequently assaulted her. The unnamed players videotaped the beating and posted the video on Snapchat. The players confirmed these elements of the story to Kapler.

The girl spoke to police the following week after a referral from her Arizona Department of Child Safety case manager. At that time, she told them that one of the minor leaguers sexually assaulted her, according to the open records request made by the Washington Post. Kapler maintains he was not aware of this until he was contacted for comment by the newspaper.

The Dodgers hired a lawyer on behalf of the player accused of sexual assault, who advised their client not to speak with police. The girl didn't want to cooperate with the investigation, and charges were never filed.