Two former Baylor University football players have been arrested in consecutive days in connection to a 2013 sexual assault of a female student claiming the two players took her home after getting drunk at a party and gang-raped her.
Tre’von Armstead, 22, and Shamycheal Chatman, 23, were taken into custody on charges of sexual assault. Armstead was arrested in southeast Texas on March 22. Chatman was arrested by Houston-area U.S. marshals on March 23.
Armstead was indicted by a Waco, Texas grand jury on three counts of sexual assault, a second-degree felony that is punishable by up to 20 years in jail. Chatman was also indicted on three counts of sexual assault.
The two former Bears were named suspects in a police report filed on the incident, but weren’t charged until this week. According to McLennan County District Attorney Abel Reyna, authorities took action because of “newly discovered evidence.”
Armstead and Chatman are accused of sexually assaulting the woman, who became intoxicated while attending a party at another football player’s apartment on April 18, 2013, according to police reports. Armstead and Chatman accompanied her back to her home.
After arriving to her home, her roommate’s boyfriend claims he saw the accused emerge from her bedroom after hearing “what sounded like wrestling and a fist hitting someone” and a woman saying “no.” The suit claims she had a bruise on her cheek and a bite mark on her neck.
She filed a police report after waking up with bruises and a physical feeling indicating she had sex, even though she did not remember consenting to it at any point during the evening.
Armstead was dismissed from the football team for an undisclosed violation of team rules in 2015 and was expelled from Baylor in February 2016. According to ESPN, he was expelled after a university Title IX adjudicator found him responsible for sexually assaulting the woman.
Chatman told police that it was consensual sex. He transferred to Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas, in the spring of 2013. He is still currently on the football team and enrolled at the school.
The arrests continue the string of sexual assault scandals that has plagued Baylor and its football program. At least 19 football players have been accused of sexual or physical assault, including four gang rapes, since 2011. According to the Dallas Morning News, the lawsuit accusing Armstead and Chatman alleges that number may be higher, with at least 31 players committing at least 52 “acts of rape” between 2011 and 2014.
Three former Baylor football players have been indicted for sexual assault since 2014, two of whom have been convicted. Tevin Elliot is currently serving 20 years in prison after being found guilty of two counts of sexual assault. Sam Ukwuachu was sentenced to 180 days in county jail, 400 hours of community service, 10 years of felony probation and registered as a sex offender. Shawn Oakman was indicted by a grand jury in July 2016. No details have been released publicly on his trial or conviction.
Head football coach Art Briles, Baylor President Ken Starr and Title IX Coordinator Patty Crawford have all been relieved of their duties because of the scandal.
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