A former Baylor volleyball player who says she was gang-raped by several football players in 2012 filed a federal Title IX lawsuit against the university on Tuesday, in which she and her attorneys contradict several statements Baylor's administration had previously issued about her alleged assault.
The woman's alleged assault was a focal point during the Pepper Hamilton investigation into how Baylor handled allegations of sexual assault and other physical violence committed by students, including what former Baylor football coach Art Briles and athletics director Ian McCaw knew about her alleged gang rape.
The woman's lawsuit alleges that the members of the Baylor football team had "already developed a system of hazing their freshman recruits by having them bring or invite freshman females to house parties hosted by members of the football team. At these parties, the girls would be drugged and gang raped, or in the words of the football players, 'trains' would be run on the girls."
The lawsuit alleges the gang rapes were a "bonding" experience for the players, and that photographs and videotapes of the "semi-conscious" girls were taken during the assaults and "circulated amongst the football players."
The lawsuit says a 21-second videotape of two female Baylor students being gang raped by several football players was circulated among the team.
"Simply put, Baylor football under Briles had run wild, in more ways than one, and Baylor was doing nothing to stop it," the lawsuit says.
"The alleged incident outlined in the court filing occurred more than five years ago, and Baylor University has been in conversations with the victim's legal counsel for many months in an attempt to reach an amicable resolution," a Baylor spokesman said in a statement Wednesday. "Baylor has since initiated and structurally completed 105 wide-ranging recommendations in response to issues of sexual violence within our campus community, in addition to making changes within the university and athletics leadership and investing significantly in student support services.
The woman's complaint is the seventh federal Title IX lawsuit involving 15 women filed against Baylor.
"As this case proceeds, Baylor maintains its ability to present facts -- as available to the University -- in response to the allegations contained in the legal filing. The University's response in no way changes Baylor's position that any assault involving members of our campus community is reprehensible and inexcusable," the Baylor spokesman said. "Baylor remains committed to eliminating all forms of sexual and gender-based harassment and discrimination within our campus community."
The woman, who is identified only as Jane Doe and a former Baylor volleyball player in the lawsuit, stated that neither she nor her parents "ever indicated that they did not want to report the assault to judicial affairs or to police," which contradicts statements from Baylor and other sources who indicated that the woman refused to pursue her case and simply wanted to leave Baylor.
"Instead, plaintiff and her parents were told that it was too late for criminal charges and they begged plaintiff's head coach and the assistant volleyball coach to tell them what, if anything, Baylor could do about the assault," the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit details her alleged assault on Feb. 11, 2012, when she went to an off-campus party at a football player's apartment. The woman said she was drinking and believes she was drugged. At the party, the woman's friend reported seeing one football player trying to pull her into a bathroom several times. Another player, whose sexual advances the woman had turned down the day before, kept grabbing at her all night despite her repeatedly telling him "no," the lawsuit states.
According to the lawsuit, once the woman's friends left, a football player picked her up, put her in his vehicle and drove her to another location, where at least four football players "brutally gang raped" her.
"Plaintiff remembers lying on her back, unable to move and staring at glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling as the football players took turns raping her," the lawsuit says. "Following the gang rape, plaintiff remembers hearing the players yell, 'Grab her phone! Delete my numbers and texts!'"
