A highly touted Baylor football player was convicted of sexually assaulting a fellow student after the school kept the disturbing allegations under wraps for years — and continues to deny it was warned about the player’s violent past.
A jury in Texas district court found 22-year-old Sam Ukwuachu guilty Thursday of one count of sexual assault. Ukwuachu faces up to 20 years in prison as the punishment phase of his trial continues Friday.
Prosecutors said Ukwuachu sexually assaulted a former Baylor women’s soccer player at his Waco, Texas, apartment. Ukwuachu has said the encounter was consensual.
The details of the assault are frankly terrifying. Here is the sworn testimony of Ukwuachu’s accuser, who was 18 years old and a virgin when she accompanied Ukwuachu, who is listed at 6-foot-3, 230 pounds, to his apartment around 2 a.m. one late night in October 2013, according to court documents obtained by Texas Monthly:
“He was using all of his strength to pull up my dress and do stuff to me. He had me on my stomach on the bed, and he was on top of me. I was screaming ‘stop’ and ‘no.’ ”
Afterward, the victim testified, Ukwuachu asked her if she was going to call the police and said, “This isn’t rape.”
A Baylor official testified the school investigated the woman’s complaint, but didn’t find enough evidence “to move forward.”
Baylor’s flimsy investigation, as outlined by assistant district attorney Hilary Laborde in court proceedings, comprised interviews with Ukwuachu, his accuser, and one friend of each. The school never reviewed the rape kit collected by the sexual assault nurse examiner.
Ukwuachu’s friend who was interviewed was running back Peni Tagive, who said he was present at the time of the incident — a notion roundly disputed by the victim — and witnessed no signs of struggle. However, Tagive endured a contempt-of-court citation rather than repeat that testimony under oath, according to Texas Monthly.
The victim was left to adjust her class schedule to avoid Ukwuachu on campus. Her soccer scholarship was reduced, and she transferred to another university after the 2013-14 school year.
Ukwuachu, a defensive end, transferred in 2013 from Boise State University, where he was a freshman All-American for the Broncos. Baylor reportedly requested a waiver in 2013 to allow Ukwuachu to play immediately, but the NCAA nixed the request. The report also said Ukwuachu was supposed to play in 2014, but was held out because of the rape indictment — though Baylor never made any official announcement or statement about Ukwuachu’s case as the reason he was not playing.
According to Texas Monthly, Ukwuachu was kicked off the Boise State team for a previous incident of violence involving a female student, and Boise State officials refused to support Ukwuachu’s return to the field in back-channel communications between the two programs.
Baylor coach Art Briles denied knowing anything about Ukwuachu’s history of violence at Boise State.
“I talked with [former Boise State coach] Chris Petersen personally,” Briles said Friday, according to ESPN.com. “No mention of anything beyond Sam being depressed, needing to come home.
“Find out who informed us and talk to them, please. But let’s talk about football. Let’s talk about football. I’m through talking about that. Because I’ve been advised not to, really. But I just wanted to clear a little bit of air.”
Petersen, now the coach at Washington, all but called Briles a liar in his rebuttal.
“After Sam Ukwuachu was dismissed from the Boise State football program and expressed an interest in transferring to Baylor, I initiated a call with coach Art Briles,” Petersen told ESPN. “In that conversation, I thoroughly apprised Coach Briles of the circumstances surrounding Sam’s disciplinary record and dismissal.”
Late Thursday, Baylor — presided over by White House fixture Ken Starr — released the following statement:
“Acts of sexual violence contradict every value Baylor University upholds as a caring Christian community. In recent years we have joined university efforts nationally to prevent campus violence against women and sexual assault, to actively support survivors of sexual assault with compassion and care, and to take action against perpetrators.We have established and fully staffed a Title IX office that employs a Title IX Coordinator and two full-time investigators. Maintaining a safe and caring community is central to Baylor’s mission and at the heart of our commitment to our students, faculty and staff.”
— With AP