Darcy Adanna Esemonu: Pregnancy Fraud Charges and Civil Suit

Darcy Adanna Esemonu is an Arizona woman indicted by a Maricopa County grand jury in March 2024 on two felony counts: fraudulent schemes and artifices, and theft by extortion. Prosecutors allege she fabricated a pregnancy to extract money from former Major League Baseball pitcher Trevor Bauer and separately threatened a man named Marco Bresciani. Her criminal trial is scheduled for June 2026 in the Superior Court of Arizona in Maricopa County.¹

The Alleged Pregnancy Scheme

Esemonu and Bauer had a sexual encounter in 2020. Prosecutors and Bauer’s legal team say she later claimed the encounter resulted in a pregnancy and asked Bauer for money, first for prenatal costs and then for an abortion. Bauer’s attorneys said she demanded $1.6 million to terminate the alleged pregnancy.² In a separate accounting, his team put the total demand at $3.6 million.³

Bauer’s attorney Anne Chapman told police that Bauer paid Esemonu roughly $8,761 to $10,000 for what she said were pregnancy-related expenses, including medical costs, prenatal vitamins, and car services.⁴ Bauer alleged she used some of the money for a trip to Philadelphia for LASIK eye surgery instead.⁵

The core allegation is that no pregnancy ever existed. When Scottsdale detectives later interviewed Esemonu, she gave shifting accounts, describing the outcome first as a miscarriage, then as an abortion, and finally as a miscarriage that occurred before she reached an out-of-state clinic. A detective noted that the medical records she provided did not indicate she had actually been pregnant.³

A Second Alleged Victim

The extortion charge does not involve Bauer. It names Marco Bresciani and alleges that between July and September 2023, Esemonu sought to obtain property or services from him “by means of a threat to in the future expose a secret or an asserted fact in a social media message or in any other manner.”⁶ Little has been reported publicly about Bresciani or his connection to Esemonu beyond his role as a named victim. The fraud count covers a longer window, from December 2020 through September 2023, and sweeps in conduct involving both Bauer and Bresciani.⁷

How the Case Reached Prosecutors

Esemonu first went to the Scottsdale Police Department in December 2022, reporting that Bauer had raped her and committed domestic violence during their 2020–2021 interactions.⁸ About a week later she filed a civil suit. In January 2023, Bauer’s attorney filed a counter-complaint with the same department, accusing Esemonu of theft by extortion and calling the pregnancy and abortion claims false.⁶

Scottsdale police closed both cases without recommending charges. Investigators labeled Esemonu’s sexual assault report “inactive” for lack of probable cause and classified Bauer’s extortion complaint as “unfounded,” finding the evidence did not meet Arizona’s theft-by-extortion elements.⁸ The matter later reached the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, which took it to a grand jury.

The Charges and What She Faces

The grand jury returned its two-count indictment on March 19, 2024, and it was unsealed the following month.⁹

Fraudulent schemes and artifices, a class 2 felony under Arizona law, alleging Esemonu “knowingly did obtain a benefit” from Bauer “by means of fraudulent pretenses, representation, promises, or material omissions.”¹⁰
Theft by extortion, based on the alleged threats against Bresciani.⁶

If convicted on both counts, Esemonu faces a potential sentence of more than 16 years in prison, according to reporting by the New York Post.¹¹

The Civil Suit

Esemonu’s own civil case against Bauer, filed in 2022 and updated in 2023, alleges he sexually assaulted her in 2020, that the encounter led to an unplanned pregnancy, and that she miscarried after Bauer told her in March 2021 he would not continue the relationship if she kept the baby.⁴ Bauer’s attorneys called the encounter consensual and filed a countersuit for fraud and extortion.¹²

The civil status has been reported inconsistently. ABC7 reported in April 2024 that attorneys for both sides confirmed a settlement.⁹ More recent reporting indicates the civil proceedings are on hold pending the outcome of the criminal trial.¹ Any settlement terms have not been publicly disclosed.

Where the Case Stands

No plea deal, conviction, or dismissal has been publicly reported. Esemonu’s trial is set for June 2026, and the civil case remains paused until the criminal matter is resolved. Bauer himself has never been criminally charged; Los Angeles County prosecutors declined to file against him in February 2022, citing insufficient evidence.¹³

1
Law Commentary. Judge Again Rejects Trevor Bauer’s Claim Against Accuser Lindsey Hill
2
USA Today. Trevor Bauer Accuser Charged With Fraud
3
ABC News. Woman Who Accused Trevor Bauer of Sexual Assault Indicted for Fraud
4
CNN. Trevor Bauer Woman Charged With Fraud
5
KTLA. Trevor Bauer Sex Assault Accuser Facing Criminal Charges
6
ABC News. Trevor Bauer Accuser Indicted Fraud Arizona
7
AZ Central. Ex-MLB Pitcher Trevor Bauer’s Accuser Indicted on Fraud Charges in Maricopa County
8
AZ Central. Trevor Bauer Assault Allegations Arizona Woman
9
ABC7. Darcy Adanna Esemonu Indicted for Fraud
10
Arizona Legislature. ARS 13-2310 Fraudulent Schemes and Artifices
11
New York Post. Trevor Bauer Accuser Charged With Allegedly Defrauding Exiled MLB Star
12
USA Today. MLB Trevor Bauer Accuser Fraud False Reports
13
NPR. Trevor Bauer Suspension Arbitrator Dodgers Pitcher Sexual Assault