Report: Missouri violated Title IX laws by not investigating rape allegation

The University of Missouri violated Title IX laws by not conducting an investigation after a student accused a football player of raping her, according to a report from ESPN's Outside the Lines.

The student reportedly told an academic adviser about the rape, which allegedly occurred in 2008, but assistant football coaches told the parents of the football player, Derrick Washington, that criminal charges were unlikely.

University officials confirmed to Outside the Lines that a Title IX investigation was not conducted.

Missouri chancellor R. Bowen Loftin issued a statement saying the university has implemented "sweeping" changes to its "policies and resources related to sexual assault and mental health." 

Washington was also involved in three other incidents while at Missouri. 

In 2010, a woman's soccer player who was arrested for fighting with Washington's girlfriend at a bar alleged that Washington punched her in the face. The woman's soccer player spoke to her coach, who said her scholarship was at risk because of her arrest, according to a police report. From ESPN's investigation: 

The report stated, "Her coach made her feel as though she would not have any problems with her scholarship if she declined to prosecute Derrick Washington for assaulting her," and that, "If Mr. Washington was arrested, the incident would make the news and the situation with her scholarship might change."

The soccer player said she lost her scholarship but had it reinstated with the help from an attorney.

In 2011, Washington was convicted on a deviate sexual assault charge and sentenced to five years in prison after he sexually assaulted a woman who was asleep in her bed, an incident that occurred weeks after the alleged bar assault of the women's soccer player. As part of a first-time offenders program, Washington served four months and registered as a sex offender.

In 2012, Washington received a 90-day jail sentence as part of a guilty plea to misdemeanor third-degree domestic assault after he beat up his girlfriend, an incident that occurred in 2010 just 13 days after he was charged for the bedroom incident. He served the 90 days simultaneously with his other sentence. 

During his three years at Missouri, Washington rushed for more than 2,000 yards and 28 touchdowns. Washington was selected as a team captain and sent to represent the Tigers at Big 12 media days in 2010. 

Washington was kicked off the team in September of that year and spent his final year of eligibility at Tuskegee University in Alabama.

- Chris Johnson