10 College Athlete Sex Scandals That Will Break Your Heart

By Editorial Staff in Sports On 8th January 2017
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#1 University Of Tennessee

The University of Tennessee settles rape lawsuit for $2.48 million by providing legal counsel to athletes and indifference to rape victims.

A federal lawsuit brought against the school by eight women accused the university of mishandling sexual assault cases and favoring athletes. According to the lawsuit, the school did everything it could to help sexual assault suspects get good lawyers and provided "deliberate indifference" to the rape victims.

Three football players were named in the case as Riyahd Jones, A.J. Johnson, and Michael Williams as well as baseball player Yemi Makanjoia. The perpetrators were also allowed to bypass laws meant to protect women. "This is a big issue in our case if a student is facing discipline, they can invoke that procedure law and have a mini-trial with a judge and cross-examination that is contrary to Title IX and the Violence Against Women Act," Attorney David Randolph Smith told The Huffington Post. "You're not supposed to further harass somebody by putting them through the meat grinder procedurally."

There have been over 200 federal investigations at over 162 colleges and universities on mishandling sexual assault cases.

#2 Stanford University

This swimmer was sentenced behind bars for "20 minutes of action."

On January 18, 2015, Brock Turner was spotted on campus thrusting his body on top of an unconscious, half-naked woman behind a dumpster. When he was spotted by two Stanford University graduate students he ran but was detained by the two students until police arrived. He was a star swimmer.

It wasn't until the victim read a letter aloud to her attacker in court that Brock Allen Turner was convicted of three counts of felony sexual assault for taking advantage of an unconscious woman. He was sentenced to six months behind bars and probation.

"And then, at the bottom of the article, after I learned about the graphic details of my sexual assault, the article listed his swimming times."

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#3 University Of Oregon

Three students were responsible for sexual misconduct can no longer attend the college while the victim is there.

Dominic Artis, Damyean Dotson, and Brandon Austin were all basketball players. But they were also named in a police report for allegedly raping a female student in multiple locations on March 9, 2014.

The students were allowed to continue playing basketball in the NCAA tournament despite allegations. They were later found responsible for sexual misconduct and were removed from campus for up to 10 years. The university faced criticism for allowing the athletes to continue playing and not disclosing anything.

"I am angry with the culture that appears to exist in our athletic department that prioritizes winning over safety of our students," the victim said. "I cannot fathom how our basketball coach recruited someone who was in the middle of a suspension for another sexual assault to come to Eugene."

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#4 Vanderbilt University

Cory Batey was found guilty of raping an unconscious student in a dorm while his football teammates photographed and recorded.

Four former football players were charged with rape, but only one of them has been found guilty. Cory Batey was found guilty of two counts of attempted aggravated rape, facilitation of aggravated rape and three counts of aggravated sexual battery according to The Washington Post.

According to the victim, she was dating Brandon Vandenburg, one of the four men charged in the case. The last thing she remembered was him giving her drinks at the bar before she passed out and was brought to a dorm room. During the 32-minute attack, Batey was photographed urinating on her while she was unconscious.

The crime was only found by chance after police went through surveillance video on a vandalism incident and saw the athletes carrying the unconscious woman.

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#5 Baylor University

17 women reported sexual or domestic assaults against 19 different Baylor football players.

Sam Ukwuachu, a defensive end for Baylor's football team, was found guilty of sexual assault and had a previous incident of violence against a female student from Boise State.

Baylor's Board of Regents hired Pepper Hamilton to "conduct a thorough and independent external investigation into the university's handling of cases of alleged sexual violence." During the investigation, Shawn Oakman another defensive end for Baylor's football team was arrested on charges of sexual assault

After the review was completed, over 17 women reported sexual or domestic assault cases against 19 different athletes. Baylor University fired Art Briles, the football coach. "We were horrified by the extent of these acts of sexual violence on our campus. This investigation revealed the University's mishandling of reports in what should have been a supportive, responsive and caring environment for students," said Richard Willis, chair of the Baylor Board of Regents.

#6 Penn State

The assistant football coach molested children over the 30 years while working at Penn State.

If you thought raping women was bad, Jerry Sandusky, the former assistant football coach was convicted of 45 out of the 52 counts of sexual abuse of children on June 22, 2012. While the abuse may have started in the 1970s, he was only charged with abuse of children between 1994-2009. Three other school officials were accused of perjury, obstruction of justice, and failure to report suspected child abuse.

The locations of the assaults were in Sandusky's basement, Sandusky's car, high schools, Lasch Football Building, a golf resort, a hotel in Texas, and a locker room. Sandusky was sentenced on October 9, 2012, to a minimum of 30 years behind bars.

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#7 Virginia Tech

Both the victim and the alleged perpetrators think Virginia Tech only cares about their image.

Christy Brzonkala was allegedly raped by two Virginia Tech football players. After investigating the claims, they dropped charges against one athlete because he threatened to sue because the school's code of conduct did not explicity forbid sexual assault. The other player was suspended for one year but it was dropped before the football season started.

Christy Brzonkala then sued the school under the Violence Against Women Act.

#8 Yale University

Captain of the basketball team was expelled before an investigation could start.

Jack Montague was the captain of Yale men's basketball team. In the fall of 2015, he was summoned to appear before Yale's University-Wide Committee on Sexual Misconduct. He was expelled a few months after.

A lawsuit was filed against Montague and Yale University. According to NBC News, Montague has continued his relationship with the woman he was accused of mistreating and they had several consensual sexual encounters prior to the incident.

Montague's lawyers have said that "he was deprived of the Ivy League degree he came so close to obtaining. He was deprived of the ability to join the Yale men's basketball team in the NCAA playoffs (a feat the team had achieved, with Mr. Montague's skill and leadership, for the first time in 54 years), and he was unfairly branded a sexual assailant, a label he may never be able to shed."

#9 Notre Dame

Women are gang-banged, raped, and left to die at Notre Dame because: football.

Lizzy Seeberg took her life ten days after she was allegedly assaulted by a Notre Dame football player. But she wasn't the only one who came forward about this. In 2002 there was a case against two football players in 1974 who were accused of raping a 17-year-old girl. One of the players was involved in another unreported crime.

Then there were the six players who raped an undergraduate student at the University, resulting in her spending a month in psychiatric care. These are just reported cases.

The U.S. Department of Education found that the University of Notre Dame tops the list of reported rapes in Indiana. According to Tracey Krueger from the Indiana Coalition to End Sexual Assault, "It says to me that not all cases are being reported. It says to me that people are afraid to come forward and talk about what's happened to them."

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#10 Florida State University

The school made a settlement of $950,000 with a former student for an alleged rape by a football player.

Erica Kinsman was allegedly raped by Jameis Winston, a Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback. She claimed that Florida State University was "deliberately indifferent" regarding sexual assault and even interfered with the investigation to protect their star quarterback.

According to the school President, James Thrasher, "We have an obligation to our students, their parents, and Florida taxpayers. With all the economic demands we face, at some point, it doesn't make sense to continue even though we are convinced we would have prevailed."