A lawsuit brought by a former Baylor student against the University alleges that the school’s football players committed 52 acts of rape and five gang rapes, including one targeting her.
The unidentified woman identified as Elizabeth Doe claims that she was attacked and raped by Tre’Von Armstead and Shamycheal Chatman in April of 2013.
Her alleged attackers were named as suspects but never charged, and her suit seen by the Dallas Morning News on Friday alleged that Baylor violated laws against sex discrimination in Title IX.
Doe’s suit claims that her attack was part of a long string of sexual violence committed by the university’s football team, with 32 football players allegedly committing an “act of rape” between 2011 and 2014.
Two of the five alleged gang rapes were said to involve 10 or more players at the same time.
Beyond claims of crimes by the players, the suit alleges that the school and Baylor athletics implemented a “show ’em a good time” attitude that sold recruits on sex.
The suit also states that female students in the Baylor Bruin hostess program were encouraged to have sex with players and potential recruits.
“From 2009-15, Baylor football players were responsible for numerous crimes involving violent physical assault, armed robbery, burglary, drugs, guns, and, notably, the most widespread culture of sexual violence and abuse of women ever reported in a collegiate athletic program,” the lawsuit says. “Baylor football under (Coach Art) Briles had run wild, in more ways than one, and Baylor was doing nothing to stop it.”
Armstead was dismissed from the team in 2015 after the rape allegations, though the university said it was for violating team rules, according to ESPN’s “Outside the Lines.”
Documents seen by the program show that Doe’s roommate first reported the incident, and that it was not pursued because the alleged victim said she did not want to prosecute.
Armstead was eventually dismissed more than two years after the original incident when the alleged victim, who had not been contacted by the school until that point despite police saying they had contacted Baylor, came forward.
Chatman left the school after the semester of the alleged incident, and has played two years of football at Sam Houston State.
Briles was fired from the school last year, after school officials said that he knew about assaults and alleged gang rapes without reporting them.
The suit also alleges assistant coach Kendal Briles — the son of the head coach and now the offensive coordinator at Florida Atlantic — alledgedly once told a recruit: “Do you like white women? Because we have a lot of them at Baylor and they love football players.”
An independent investigation into sexual assault at the school previously found that 17 women reported sexual assault by 19 football players, including claims of four gang rapes.
