New lawsuit alleges 52 rapes by Baylor players between 2011 and 2014
A new lawsuit against Baylor includes sexual assault figures that far exceed numbers previously acknowledged by the school.
According to the Dallas Morning News, the lawsuit, which was filed Friday by a woman who says she was raped by former Baylor football players Tre’Von Armstead and Shamycheal Chatman in April 2013, claims that the woman “is aware of at least 52 acts of rape by not less than 31 different football players” in the span of four years — 2011 through 2014. That figure includes allegations of five gang rapes by Baylor players, including “at least two committed by ten or more Baylor players at one time.”
That goes well beyond what Baylor regents told the Wall Street Journal in October. School officials said that 17 women accused 19 football players of “sexual or domestic assaults” dating back to 2011.
In this new lawsuit, the woman, a Baylor graduate who is referred to in the suit as Elizabeth Doe, is suing the school for violating Title IX requirements and negligence. The suit says Chatman had been previously accused of raping an athletic trainer. The school, the suit says, reached a non-disclosure agreement with the trainer and did not punish Chatman.
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From the Morning News:
She says that Chatman was accused of rape once before and the university failed to intervene. In that case, the suit says, a student athletic trainer reported that Chatman raped her at his off-campus apartment, so the university moved the trainer to a female sports team and agreed to pay for her education in exchange for a non-disclosure agreement.
The lawsuit also alleges that the Baylor coaching staff used sex as a recruiting tool.
From the lawsuit:
Central to their recruiting efforts, Baylor football coaching staff implemented a “Show em a good time” policy which permitted members of the Baylor football team to engage in unrestricted behavior with no consequences including but not limited to:
a. Players arranging for women, alcohol and illegal drugs for parties when recruits were in town;
b. Paying for and escorting underage recruits to bars and strip clubs; and
c. Paying for off-campus football parties (which repeatedly resulted in gang rape of women by the athletes).
In one portion, the lawsuit specifically names Kendal Briles, the Bears’ former offensive coordinator. Briles, the son of former Baylor head coach Art Briles, was recently hired by Lane Kiffin to be the offensive coordinator at Florida Atlantic.
Not only were Baylor’s football coaching staff instrumental in actively implementing these recruiting policies and practices, they also encouraged them. Assistant Coach Kendall Briles, while recruiting one Dallas area high school athlete stated, “Do you like white women? Because we have a lot of them at Baylor and they love football players.”
The suit says Baylor "used sex to sell the program" to recruits. pic.twitter.com/hnsRQ0ZHQW
— Dr. Saturday (@YahooDrSaturday) January 27, 2017
On top of that, the suit alleges the coaching staff “arranged for women to have sex with recruits on their official campus visits.” In one instance, a Baylor player said coaches “sent two women” from Baylor’s hostess program, known as the Baylor Bruins, to his hotel room and the room of another recruit “to engage in sex with the two men.”
The suit says the “Baylor Bruin” program (which Doe participated in) was used to “engage in sexual acts with the recruits to help secure the recruits’ commitment to Baylor.” Baylor, the suit alleges, had an “unofficial policy of looking the other way when there was sexual intercourse between the Bruins and football players.”
Following the alleged incident involving Doe, which is said to have taken place after a party, the suit says another Bruin encouraged Doe to lie about the incident to police. The Bruin, the suit says, was tipped off by Chatman.
In the aftermath of the reported rape, Waco Police, the suit says, “never even attempted to interview” Chatman or Armstead. Waco Police did notify campus authorities, however, but the players were not disciplined at the time. Chatman later left school, but Armstead remained with the team until his dismissal for “violating team rules” in September 2015.
Of the 31 players accused of assault, the suit says only two were dismissed from the university. And “in at least five instances” between 2011 and 2014, “the rape or physical abuse of female students by the football team was reported directly to football coaches and athletic department personnel who took no action,” the suit says.
Additionally, some alleged victims, the suit says, “were encouraged by Baylor employees to leave school without further investigation.”
Some alleged victims, the suit says, "were encouraged by Baylor employees to leave school without further investigation." pic.twitter.com/67dklFfPP3
— Dr. Saturday (@YahooDrSaturday) January 27, 2017
“As Baylor continued to fail to address acts of sexual violence, the football players became increasingly emboldened, knowing that they could break the law, code of conduct, and general standards of human decency with no repercussions,” the lawsuit says. “This attitude, in turn, fueled the widespread violence within the program and spurred on the football players to gang rape Ms. Doe and others.”
This is just the latest in a number of lawsuits against Baylor in the fallout of the school’s investigation into its handling of an array of sexual assault allegations, including many involving football players. On top of that, two former Title IX workers at the school, including Title IX coordinator Patty Crawford, have filed suits against the school. Another former member of the Title IX office, Gabrielle Lyons — who worked with Crawford — has accused the school of intimidation and discrimination.
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Art Briles was fired as head coach in May as Baylor’s board released summary findings from an investigation into the school’s handling of sexual assault allegations. The investigation, conducted by Philadelphia law firm Pepper Hamilton, found “specific failings within both the football program and athletics department leadership” and said there were “significant concerns about the tone and culture within Baylor’s football program as it relates to accountability for all forms of student-athlete misconduct.” President Ken Starr was also fired while athletic director Ian McCaw turned in his resignation.
Despite Briles’ firing, the rest of the staff remained intact for the 2016 season under acting head coach Jim Grobe. Throughout the season, the staff controversially showed support for Briles (who offered an apology in September). Since then, the staff has been let go with former Temple head coach Matt Rhule accepting the program’s head-coaching job.
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Sam Cooper is a writer for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
