New Baylor Lawsuit Cites 52 Rapes by Football Players in 4 Years

A Baylor University graduate who says she was raped by two football players in 2013 sued the university Friday. Her lawsuit includes an allegation that 31 Baylor football players committed 52 acts of rape, including five gang rapes, between 2011 and 2014 -- an estimate that far exceeds the number previously provided by school regents. The woman, identified in the suit as Elizabeth Doe, reports being brutally gang raped by then-Baylor football players Tre'Von Armstead and Shamycheal Chatman after a party on April 18, 2013. Those football players were previously named as suspects in a police report about a rape on that date, but were never charged. The woman has sued Baylor for Title IX violations and negligence. 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 describes a culture of sexual violence within Baylor's athletics, in which the school implemented a "show 'em a good time" policy that "used sex to sell" the football program to recruits. A Dallas-area high school athlete, according to the suit, said former assistant coach Kendall Briles once asked him, "Do you like white women? Because we have a lot of them at Baylor and they love football players." Investigation by lawyers identified at least 52 "acts of rape," including five gang rapes, by 31 football players from 2011 to 2014. At least two of the gang rapes were committed by 10 or more players at one time, the suit states. This contrasts with figures Baylor officials have provided after the Pennsylvania-based law firm Pepper Hamilton conducted an investigation into how the university handled sexual assault. Regents told The Wall Street Journal in October that they were aware of 17 women who reported sexual or domestic assaults involving 19 players, including four alleged gang rapes, since 2011.This story is being updated.  Continue reading...