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Defensive end Sam Ukwuachu, 22 and a former freshman
All-American, was convicted on Thursday on charges that he
sexually assaulted a Baylor women's soccer player at his Waco
apartment.
The jury that convicted him initially recommended a sentence of
eight years probation but State District Judge Matt Johnson
increased the probation period and added the jail time. Ukwuachu
was also ordered to complete 400 hours of community service.
Ukwuachu had told the jury in the central Texas city that the
encounter was consensual and that he had a previous relationship
with the woman.
Baylor, the world's largest Baptist University, has faced
criticism for not doing enough to investigate and discipline
Ukwuachu in the case that resulted in a criminal conviction.
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 sentence, university President
Ken Starr "called for a comprehensive internal inquiry into the
circumstances associated with this case and the conduct of the
offices involved," the school said.
"Acts of sexual violence contradict every value Baylor
University upholds as a caring Christian community," it said in
a statement.
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.
(Additional reporting by Jon Herskovitz in Austin; Editing by
Susan Heavey, Bernard Orr)
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