Police records detail several more violence allegations against Baylor football players
1:47 PM ET
WACO, Texas -- As Baylor University's board of regents reviews a law firm's findings about the school's response to sexual violence allegations -- many involving its football players -- Outside the Lines has obtained documents that detail largely unknown allegations of sexual assault, domestic violence and other acts of violence involving several Baylor football players.
According to the police documents, at least some Baylor officials, including coaches, knew about many of the incidents, and most players did not miss playing time for disciplinary reasons. None of the incidents has been widely reported in the media.
In one case from 2011, an assault at an off-campus event in Waco ended with three football players being charged as well as Baylor and Waco police discussing the incident. Waco police, according to documents, took extraordinary steps to keep it from the public view "given the potential high-profile nature of the incident." According to a police report obtained by Outside the Lines, Waco's investigating officer asked a commander that "the case be pulled from the computer system so that only persons who had a reason to inquire about the report would be able to access it." The report was placed in a locked office.
In another case, a sexual assault allegation against a former star player has remained in Waco police's open-case status for four years, which, under Texas open records laws, effectively shields the case's details from public view. The player and the alleged victim deny any assault took place, and in a separate criminal investigation, Waco police noted that officers had dealt with the woman as part of other allegations she had made against various people and concluded she was "deceptive."
Baylor has been under scrutiny for months about how it has handled sexual assaults involving athletes. In the fall of 2015, Baylor hired Philadelphia law firm Pepper Hamilton to review its past treatment of sexual assault claims. The review has not yet been completed, but Baylor's board of regents was given a preliminary update on findings on Friday. Outside the Lines attempted to reach more than a dozen members of Baylor's board of regents about the report this week and last; none returned multiple phone messages and emails.
When reached for comment, a Baylor spokeswoman issued a statement, which reads in part: "We are certain the actions that result from this deliberative process will yield improvements across a variety of areas that rebuild and reinforce confidence in our university. We are saddened when any student, including a student-athlete, acts in a manner inconsistent with Baylor's mission or is a victim of such behavior."
Among the developments that have drawn attention to Baylor:
OTL: Women say Baylor ignored sexual assaults
An Outside the Lines investigation found several examples at Baylor in which school officials either failed to investigate, or adequately investigate, allegations of sexual violence.
The woman told Outside the Lines she didn't press criminal charges against him because she was about to graduate and didn't think the school would punish him. She said investigators from Pepper Hamilton have not contacted her.
"I'd seen other girls go through it, and nothing ever happened to the football players," she said. "It's mind-boggling to see it continue to happen. I can't understand why. I think as long as they're catching footballs and scoring touchdowns, the school won't do anything."
Despite being a private school, Baylor is required by the federal Title IX statute to investigate allegations of sexual violence thoroughly and to provide security, counseling services and academic help to those who report assaults. Part of the law's goal is to help keep victims in school.
It's unclear whether any Title IX investigations were initiated in the most recent cases Outside the Lines has uncovered. Outside the Lines discovered the cases by requesting a database of all sexual assault and assault cases over a six-year period from Waco police and matching names found in them to Baylor rosters from 2011 through 2015. A similar request was submitted to Baylor police, but that request has not been fulfilled.
In the April 2014 case, a woman told Waco police that Bears running back Devin Chafin grabbed her arm and slammed it against a car, in front of teammates and another witness. She provided photos of bruises on her arm to police. She told police that, weeks earlier, Chafin had grabbed her by the throat and slammed her against a wall, then threw her to the floor and kicked her, according to a police report.
1:47 PM ET
- Paula Lavigne
- Mark Schlabach
- comment
WACO, Texas -- As Baylor University's board of regents reviews a law firm's findings about the school's response to sexual violence allegations -- many involving its football players -- Outside the Lines has obtained documents that detail largely unknown allegations of sexual assault, domestic violence and other acts of violence involving several Baylor football players.
According to the police documents, at least some Baylor officials, including coaches, knew about many of the incidents, and most players did not miss playing time for disciplinary reasons. None of the incidents has been widely reported in the media.
In one case from 2011, an assault at an off-campus event in Waco ended with three football players being charged as well as Baylor and Waco police discussing the incident. Waco police, according to documents, took extraordinary steps to keep it from the public view "given the potential high-profile nature of the incident." According to a police report obtained by Outside the Lines, Waco's investigating officer asked a commander that "the case be pulled from the computer system so that only persons who had a reason to inquire about the report would be able to access it." The report was placed in a locked office.
In another case, a sexual assault allegation against a former star player has remained in Waco police's open-case status for four years, which, under Texas open records laws, effectively shields the case's details from public view. The player and the alleged victim deny any assault took place, and in a separate criminal investigation, Waco police noted that officers had dealt with the woman as part of other allegations she had made against various people and concluded she was "deceptive."
Baylor has been under scrutiny for months about how it has handled sexual assaults involving athletes. In the fall of 2015, Baylor hired Philadelphia law firm Pepper Hamilton to review its past treatment of sexual assault claims. The review has not yet been completed, but Baylor's board of regents was given a preliminary update on findings on Friday. Outside the Lines attempted to reach more than a dozen members of Baylor's board of regents about the report this week and last; none returned multiple phone messages and emails.
When reached for comment, a Baylor spokeswoman issued a statement, which reads in part: "We are certain the actions that result from this deliberative process will yield improvements across a variety of areas that rebuild and reinforce confidence in our university. We are saddened when any student, including a student-athlete, acts in a manner inconsistent with Baylor's mission or is a victim of such behavior."
Among the developments that have drawn attention to Baylor:
OTL: Women say Baylor ignored sexual assaults
An Outside the Lines investigation found several examples at Baylor in which school officials either failed to investigate, or adequately investigate, allegations of sexual violence.
OTL: Baylor didn't examine allegation for 2 years
Baylor, required by federal law to immediately address allegations of sexual violence involving students, did not examine a sexual assault report made against two football players for two years.
- In January, Outside the Lines reported several examples in which school officials either failed to investigate, or adequately investigate, allegations of sexual violence. In many cases, officials did not provide support to those who reported assaults, in apparent violation of Title IX federal law. The story reported that former defensive end Tevin Elliott was suspected of four sexual assaults and one attempted assault from 2009 through 2012 and was found guilty of one sexual assault. Former defensive end Sam Ukwuachu was accused of sexually assaulting a Baylor soccer player in 2013 and found guilty.
- In April, Outside the Lines reported that Baylor did not investigate a sexual assault report made against football players Tre'Von Armstead and Shamycheal Chatman for more than two years, despite the school's obligation to do so under federal law. They never faced charges.
- Last month, former defensive end Shawn Oakman was charged with sexually assaulting a Baylor graduate student. He had been investigated in 2013 for assaulting an ex-girlfriend, who at the time declined to press charges.
- Baylor took more than three years to comply with a federal directive to hire a full-time Title IX coordinator, which it eventually did in fall 2014.
The woman told Outside the Lines she didn't press criminal charges against him because she was about to graduate and didn't think the school would punish him. She said investigators from Pepper Hamilton have not contacted her.
"I'd seen other girls go through it, and nothing ever happened to the football players," she said. "It's mind-boggling to see it continue to happen. I can't understand why. I think as long as they're catching footballs and scoring touchdowns, the school won't do anything."
Despite being a private school, Baylor is required by the federal Title IX statute to investigate allegations of sexual violence thoroughly and to provide security, counseling services and academic help to those who report assaults. Part of the law's goal is to help keep victims in school.
It's unclear whether any Title IX investigations were initiated in the most recent cases Outside the Lines has uncovered. Outside the Lines discovered the cases by requesting a database of all sexual assault and assault cases over a six-year period from Waco police and matching names found in them to Baylor rosters from 2011 through 2015. A similar request was submitted to Baylor police, but that request has not been fulfilled.
In the April 2014 case, a woman told Waco police that Bears running back Devin Chafin grabbed her arm and slammed it against a car, in front of teammates and another witness. She provided photos of bruises on her arm to police. She told police that, weeks earlier, Chafin had grabbed her by the throat and slammed her against a wall, then threw her to the floor and kicked her, according to a police report.
