Ex-Student: Gang Rape Was 'Bonding' for Baylor Players

She says she was drugged, assaulted by up to 8 players
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted May 18, 2017 3:36 AM CDT
Baylor University Sued Over Alleged Gang Rape
McLane Stadium at Baylor University in Waco, Texas.   (AP Photo/Waco Tribune Herald, Rod Aydelotte, File)

A former student at the world's largest Baptist college says she was gang-raped by football players who treated the assault as a "bonding" experience. The women, a former member of Baylor University's volleyball team, filed a lawsuit against the college Tuesday over its handling of the alleged assault in 2012, CNN reports. The lawsuit says the institution in Waco, Texas, allowed football players to "run wild" and she was "manipulated into not pursuing her rights" after she was allegedly drugged and raped by up to eight players. Her attorney says she didn't inform police at the time because "the mindset at that time was the football players could do whatever they wanted."

Court documents state that a coach spoke to some of the players involved and they said they had only been "fooling around," calling it "a little bit of playtime," the Dallas Morning News reports. In the lawsuit, the woman says that after the coach's talk, football players verbally harassed her on campus and sent her family text messages. This is the seventh Title IX lawsuit for the university, which has been dealing with allegations of mishandling of football-related sexual assaults for years, reports Reuters. Last year, the scandals led to the firing of football coach Art Briles and the departure of university president and chancellor Ken Starr. (More Baylor University stories.)

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