Baylor football player convicted of sexually assaulting women’s soccer player
DALLAS — A jury in Waco, Texas that convicted a Baylor University football player of sexual assault heard testimony on Friday as it weighs his punishment, which could include up to 20 years in prison.
Defensive end Sam Ukwuachu, 22, was convicted on Thursday on charges that he sexually assaulted a Baylor women’s soccer player at his Waco apartment in 2013.
Ukwuachu had told the same jury in the central Texas city that the encounter was consensual and that he had a previous relationship with the woman.
The one-time All American is seeking probation, his lawyer has said. The jurors could make their decision later on Friday.
Baylor, the world’s largest Baptist University, has faced criticism for not doing enough to investigate and discipline Ukwuachu in the case.
In an opinion piece on Friday, Dallas Morning News Sharon Grigsby columnist wrote that the “sexual assault case proves football has gotten too big at Baylor.”
The judge in the case deemed the school’s investigation so insufficient that the defense was barred from citing it during the trial, according to Texas Monthly and other local media.
A Baylor official told the jury that the school looked into the woman’s complaint but did not find enough evidence to move forward with a disciplinary hearing.
In a statement after Ukwuachu’s conviction, the university said it is committed to maintaining a safe community.
“Acts of sexual violence contradict every value Baylor University upholds as a caring Christian community,” it said.
Ukwuachu was dismissed from Boise State University for unknown reasons in 2013. He then transferred to Baylor but has never a played a game for the team.
College athletic rules made him ineligible in 2013, and Baylor suspended him for the 2014 season without giving a reason. Ukwuachu is not on the team’s 2015 roster posted on the school’s website.
