Betsy Bissen is a 37-year-old freelance photographer who is accusing 24-year-old Minnesota Twins star, Miguel Sano, of assault stemming from a 2015 incident following an autograph signing. Bissen took to Twitter on Thursday with a #MeToo story accusing Sano of forcefully grabbing her by the wrist and trying to pull her into the bathroom despite her protest and without her prior consent. She said her body was very sore the next day as a result of fighting “off this athlete that thought he was entitled to take advantage of me against my will.”
Here’s the Summary of Betsy Bissen’s #MeToo Tweet
Bissen tweeted about her encounter with Miguel Sano in 2015, who first noticed her while she did photography work for the Minnesota Twins during games. The alleged altercation happened at an autograph signing at a store where Bissen volunteered. She claims that Sano flirted with her, grabbed her by the wrist and forcefully made her walk with their colleagues. He later attempted to bring her into the bathroom with him.
“[Sano] made a comment while we got our picture together that he had seen me during the games. During the signing, he kept trying to flirt with me (I didn’t reciprocate),” she wrote. “After the signing was over, he decided that he wanted to go to the Apple store before he left the mall. As him, his agent and the guy I worked for walked away, he grabbed my wrist and made me go with them.”
The photographer wrote that she didn’t “want to cause a scene,” so she went along with Sano. In her tweet, she said that they spent the next 30 minutes inside the store before it was time to go.
“Their car was pulled around to a back hallway door. As we got outside [Sano] decided he needed to use the restroom. I asked my boss where it was and pointed to the door we just walked thru,” Bissen wrote. “Apparently I was too close and [Sano] took that as a signal that I wanted him to grab me and try to take me back thru that door.”
Here’s what happened next…
“I pulled back as he held onto my wrist. It hurt, how badly he was grasping at my wrist, but he wouldn’t let go. I wasn’t going to give up my fight though. He then leaned down and tried to kiss me, more than once. Every time he did, I said no and kept pulling back. I was in a squatted position with my wrist throbbing, I screamed, no one came to help me. He finally gave up after a solid 10 [minutes] of fighting to pull me thru that door. I don’t even want to think of what he may have done, had he got me thru that door.”
Bissen wrote, “No he didn’t rape me, but he sure did assault me. When I said no, it should have been the end of it. He should have respected that and stopped. Instead, he hurt me and kept going.”
She said that “the next day, my body was sore all over from having to fight off” Sano. She said, “he thought he was entitled to take advantage of me against my will.”
Who is Betsy Bissen?
Betsy Bissen/Facebook
Betsy Bissen is the owner of Bitzy Betsy Photography. According to her Facebook page, Bissen has worked as a photographer for the Minnesota Zoo and as a photographer for the St. Paul Saints baseball team.
The 37-year-old photographer said that she only wants her story to be known and is not filing a lawsuit.
“It’s not just the recaps of my fellow women who have been thru situations of their own that remind me of what happened,” Bissen wrote. “It’s every baseball game, every write up about him that rehashes this. Every time I have to hear about how great people think Miguel Sano is, I’m reminded of how awful he actually is and how he hurt me.”
Bissen added, “It’s taken a bit to get to this point, but I couldn’t wait any longer. If it’s happened to me, there’s a good chance it’s happened to someone else. … Hopefully my story will give others that it’s happened to the courage to come forward too. I know it’s not easy.”
Bissen said that she had no idea that her story would go viral.
She tweeted, “I didn’t expect it to go viral. It was hard enough for me to type anything up, let alone tell people I don’t really know what happened in 2015. The only 2 people who were witness to it, had something to lose. I had no one to corroborate my story, so I felt alone.”
What is the Response from the Minnesota Twins and the accused Miguel Sano?
The Minnesota Twins are looking into the matter and are taking these allegations “very seriously.” Meanwhile, Miguel Sano has “unequivocally” denied allegations made against him.
The Minnesota Twins released a written statement on Twitter which said, “Today the Minnesota Twins were made aware of allegations involving Miguel Sano at an offsite appearance during the 2015 season. The Twins, along with Major League Baseball, take these allegations very seriously. Until more information is gathered, the Twins will have no further comment.”
MLB spokesman Mike Teevan said in a statement, “We are aware of the allegations and are now in the process of looking into it.”
In August 2015, the MLB and the MLB Players Association created a domestic violence, sexual assault, and child abuse policy, which gives commissioner Rob Manfred the authority to decide the punishment in those cases with no maximum or minimum penalty.
Miguel Sano is a 24-year-old native of the Dominican Republican. He’s been playing with the Twins since 2009 and has been living in Minnesota since 2015. He “unequivocally” denies the allegations of assault against him by photographer Betsy Bissen.
He told TMZ Sports, “I unequivocally deny the allegation made against me today — it never happened. I have the utmost respect for women, especially those working in professional sports, and I deeply sympathize with anyone who has experienced sexual harassment. There is no place for it in our society.”
Rob Plummer, Sano’s former agent, spoke with ESPN regarding the incident. Plummer said that he was at the mall for the signing, but wasn’t in the position to see what happened between Sano and Bissen.
“I was outside next to the car, waiting for him to come out on the other side of the loading bay dock, so I don’t know what happened inside,” Plummer told ESPN. “I didn’t see or hear anything. I wasn’t anywhere near Miguel.”
