Report alleges Baylor player's sexual assault case was mishandled
A sexual assault incident involving a Baylor football player was mishandled by the school and authorities, a report from Texas Monthly alleges.
A Baylor female student-athlete alleges that Sam Ukwuachu raped her at his Waco apartment in October 2013, several months after he was dismissed from the football team at Boise State and transferred to Baylor. He was indicted on two felony charges in June 2014, but the allegations were not reported in the media until earlier this month. The Texas Monthly report and a report earlier this week from Deadspin both found Waco police initially refused to elaborate on the details of the case. The prosecutor in the case successfully lobbied the judge to issue a gag order prohibiting Ukwuachu, his attorney and the prosecutor from speaking publicly about the case.
Texas Monthly eventually obtained a copy of the incident report, in which the alleged victim says Ukwuachu took her to his apartment and forced himself on her despite her requests for him to stop. She went to the hospital the next day and underwent a rape examination, which found injuries consistent with sexual assault.
Baylor conducted its own investigation that Texas Monthly describes as “so insufficient, according to the court, that the judge sustained a motion from the prosecution to restrict the defense from referencing it during the trial.” The school’s investigation consisted of interviewing Ukwuachu, the accuser and one friend of each. The school did not examine the rape kit collected at the hospital, the report says.
The alleged victim's counselor also testified that Ukwuachu was not removed from classes and tutoring sessions he shared with his accuser, but that the woman was forced to adjust her schedule, according to the report. She transferred to another school at the conclusion of that school year.
Ukwuachu came to Baylor in the fall of 2013 after being dismissed by Boise State in May 2013, where he was accused of being abusive toward a former girlfriend. He was officially dismissed from the team due to an unspecified violation of team rules, and he told Rivals in a May 2013 interview that Baylor coaches “knew everything.”
The Bears attempted to get an NCAA waiver allowing him to become immediately eligible, but Boise State said it would not support the petition, according to Texas Monthly. He sat out the 2013 season and was expected to debut for Baylor in ’14. Ukwuachu missed that season, too, because of the rape indictment, the report says, though the school never specified the reason for his absence.
- Dan Gartland
