Three women detail sexual assault cover-up by Baylor University

By Barry Horn, The Dallas Morning News

Three victims who say they were sexually assaulted by former Baylor football player Tevin Elliott appeared on national television, claiming the school did nothing when told about the attacks.

Three women, whose faces were not shown and were identified by aliases, detailed their attacks to ESPN’s “Outside the Lines.” One of the victims, referred to as “Kim,” said she reported her assault to the school. She said she told Bethany McCraw, associate dean for student conduct, she was “raped” by Elliott.

“(McCraw) said, “You’re the sixth girl to come in and tell me this,” Kim said on ESPN Sunday.

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“Outside the Lines” reported that federal law requires a university investigation of allegations of sexual assault but found no evidence Baylor acted. The report said that McCraw, who never appeared on camera, said Kim’s story was not accurate but refused further comment.

In another sound bite, the mother of one of the victims said she called the school to report her daughter had been raped and someone at Baylor told her, “If a plane falls on your daughter, there is nothing we can do to help.”

Elliott was convicted of a 2012 sexual assault of one of the women, identified as “Tanya,” in a State District Court in Waco, Texas in January 2014. He is currently serving a 20-year sentence in a state prison. 

Tanya said after she reported her rape to police, she was refused counseling by the school. She said she was told she was trying to “tarnish” the school football program and eventually lost her academic scholarship.

In a prison interview, Elliott said all the allegations were false but couldn’t go into detail. 

Elliott, a defensive end, spent three years at Baylor. He started 11 of 25 games in two seasons.

In August, Sam Ukwuachu, another defensive end and former member of the Baylor football team, was sentenced in State District Court to 180 days in county jail and 10 years felony probation for the 2013 sexual assault of a former female athlete at the school. He is currently out on bond. 

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Ukwuachu never played for Baylor after transferring from Boise State. Neither Ukwuachu, his victim, who testified against him in court, nor any of her family members appeared in the 13-minute report.

A settlement between the victim and Baylor, whose own investigation cleared the football player, was reached in December.

While neither Briles nor Ken Starr, Baylor’s president, would speak to “Outside the Lines,” Patty Crawford, the school’s Title IX coordinator, talked about an external review “to look at our past processes because we do want to be our best and we’re always want to be an improvement from yesterday.”

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