Baylor DE found guilty in sexual assault case

Baylor DE Sam Ukwuachu was found guilty of sexual assault. (USATSI)

Baylor defensive end Sam Ukwuachu has been found guilty of sexual assault in a case from October 2013 involving a former Baylor soccer player, according to Tommy Witherspoon of the Waco Tribune-Herald.

Ukwuachu was indicted on two felony charges of sexual assault in June 2014 for the incident where according to the victim’s report, as obtained by the Texas Monthly, he took the woman to his apartment and allegedly forced himself on her despite her repeatedly telling him to stop.

“He was using all of his strength to pull up my dress and do stuff to me,” she said. “He had me on my stomach on the bed, and he was on top of me.” Doe testified that he pulled her dress up, pulled her underwear to the side, and forced her legs open with his toes, her head pressed between his bed and his desk, then forced himself inside of her. Doe was a virgin at the time.

Ukwuachu transferred from Boise State to Baylor in 2013 after being dismissed from the Broncos program. At Boise State, he was accused of being abusive to his girlfriend but was officially dismissed for an unspecified violation of team rules.

Texas Monthly, on Thursday, released a deep dive into the case, offering criticism of Baylor’s handling of Ukwuachu’s situation. The piece states Baylor requested a waiver in 2013 to allow Ukwuachu to play immediately, but the NCAA denied the request. Ukwuachu was supposed to play in 2014 but was held out due to the rape indictment. Baylor never made any official announcement or statement about Ukwuachu’s case as the reason he was not playing.

Baylor released the following statement on Ukwuachu’s guilty verdict:

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.

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