WACO — A supplement to a motion filed on behalf of ten Jane Does against Baylor University Thursday, included documents provided by former head football coach Art Briles that show Baylor administrators were aware of a "serial sexual assault assailant" on campus but took no action.
According to the filing, Baylor officials were aware in the fall of 2011 that Tevin Elliott, a former Baylor football player, was accused of four sexual assaults before he sexually assaulted another woman in April 2012, for which he was later convicted of rape.
"Had just one of [the administrators] done even the minimum of their job required, Elliott would not have had the opportunity to commit assaults in March and April of 2012," the court filing states.
Baylor University responded to the filing Thursday night.
"This case is not about former Baylor football player Tevin Elliott, who has already been convicted in a court of law and is currently serving in a state prison," Baylor's statement reads. "None of the 10 Plaintiffs in this case are claiming they were assaulted by Elliott."
"The Court has made it abundantly clear through prior rulings that this case is about whether Baylor created a “heightened risk of sexual assault” that actually caused the Plaintiffs’ assaults or that Baylor was deliberately indifferent to the Plaintiffs’ reports of their alleged assaults."
The documents produced by Briles show Reagan Ramsower, a Baylor administrator who resigned in May 2018, knew of two assaults committed in March and September 2011 no later than the week of Oct. 5, 2011 when he received an email from Baylor Police Chief Jim Doak.
"I mentioned to you about Tevin Elliott last week," Doak wrote. "He has denied everything (no surprise) and now Waco PD is looking at a polygraph for him. This is a case of 'he said-she said' but her story has never varied each time she has been interviewed. I'll keep you posted."
"The assertion that Baylor “concealed” documents related to the Elliott case is false and completely absurd," the statement from Baylor reads. "Baylor produced these materials as part of discovery in the Hernandez case involving Elliott, which is precisely why third-party Art Briles had possession of them given that he was a named defendant in the Hernandez lawsuit. These documents have never been concealed or hidden by Baylor or outside counsel."
"Regarding the substance of the documents, there is no evidence to suggest that Reagan Ramsower was aware of a March 2011 alleged sexual assault involving Elliott, despite the conspiracy being spun by Plaintiffs’ counsel."
Baylor Judicial Affairs is shown to have learned of the case about a month later on Nov. 7, 2011 when the Judicial Affairs Coordinator, David Murdock, wrote an email to three Baylor senior administrators that Elliott received another sexual assault allegation.
While Murdock's email stated he would be "sending Tevin a student charge of misconduct," a handwritten note dated Nov. 28, 2011 shows Murdock decided instead to "place this disciplinary case on hold for an indefinite period of time while I investigate the facts further."
This allowed Elliott to continue to attend classes and play for the football team. His third alleged assault occurred almost four months later on March 27, 2012. His fourth alleged assault is said to have happened before April 15, 2012 -- when he raped a student.
The full court filing can be read below:
Baylor's full statement can be read here.
This case is not about former Baylor football player Tevin Elliott, who has already been convicted in a court of law and is currently serving in a state prison. None of the 10 Plaintiffs in this case are claiming they were assaulted by Elliott.
The Court has made it abundantly clear through prior rulings that this case is about whether Baylor created a “heightened risk of sexual assault” that actually caused the Plaintiffs’ assaults or that Baylor was deliberately indifferent to the Plaintiffs’ reports of their alleged assaults.
The assertion that Baylor “concealed” documents related to the Elliott case is false and completely absurd. Baylor produced these materials as part of discovery in the Hernandez case involving Elliott, which is precisely why third-party Art Briles had possession of them given that he was a named defendant in the Hernandez lawsuit. These documents have never been concealed or hidden by Baylor or outside counsel.
As for discovery in this lawsuit, the time span ordered by the Court stretches from 2003 through 2016 and involves millions of pages of documents. Consistent with the Court orders in this case, Baylor has been methodically and systemically producing all of the records as ordered by the Court. Baylor has been producing student records starting with the most recent records from the Title IX Office, which was created in 2014. The Elliott files predate the creation of the Title IX Office. These records, and many others, will be produced in accordance with the Court’s orders and in accordance with the timetable set by the Court, which is currently set at Sept. 17, 2018.
Regarding the substance of the documents, there is no evidence to suggest that Reagan Ramsower was aware of a March 2011 alleged sexual assault involving Elliott, despite the conspiracy being spun by Plaintiffs’ counsel. Also, the portion of the “60 Minutes” interview of Ramsower referred to in today’s filing does not pertain to Elliott.
Additionally, evidence used during the recent Ian McCaw deposition shows that the police report involving the Sept. 2011 Class C misdemeanor allegation involving Elliott was sent by Judicial Affairs to the appropriate contact within the Athletics Department.
