A university that hasn’t been portrayed in the most flattering of lights of late has yet another negative headline slamming headfirst into its already battered image.
Baylor University, ESPN‘s Outside the Lines writes in an online report, “did not investigate a sexual assault report made against two football players for more than two years, despite the school’s obligation under federal law to immediately address allegations of sexual violence involving students.” The Waco Police Department reportedly informed the university in 2013 of an incident allegedly involving former tight end Tre’Von Armstead and former scout team player Myke Chatman; according to OTL, BU didn’t begin looking into the allegations until Sept. 11, 2015.
On Sept. 18 of last year, the Bears announced that Armstead had been dismissed from the football program for violating unspecified team rules. Armstead was expelled from BU in February of this year after the university determined that the female victim in the alleged incident “was too drunk to consent to sex and that Armstead should have known that.” Armstead, who was never charged as the alleged victim didn’t want to pursue the matter at the time, is considering a lawsuit against the university for how it has handled the situation.
Late last month, a different woman filed a lawsuit against Baylor in which she claims she was raped by a Bear football player, Tevin Elliott, and that the university was “deliberately indifferent to complaints by student victims of rape.”
In 2014, Elliott was convicted of sexually assaulting another different BU student at a party in 2012 and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Elliott’s conviction, OTL reported in January, came after he was accused of either rape or assault five other times from October of 2009 to April of 2012 while he was still a member of the football program. In the OTL report, one of Elliott’s alleged victims, identified only as “Tanya,” alleges that the university essentially ignored allegations because the sexual assault happened off-campus and, in her mind, a football player was involved.
One of the more disturbing portions of the report was that, two weeks before “Tanya” was raped by Elliott, another woman, identified as “Kim,” had filed a police report accusing Elliott of sexually assaulting her.
In addition to Elliott, former Bear football player Sam Ukwuachu was convicted of sexually assaulting a BU student in October of 2013 following the Homecoming win over Iowa State and was sentenced to 10 years felony probation. In December of last year, the victim in that case reached a settlement with the university.
And finally, just last week, reports surfaced that the Waco Police are investigating a “prominent Baylor football player” for alleged sexual assault. That player turned out to be Shawn Oakman, the star defensive lineman who is now busy preparing for the 2016 NFL draft.