Baylor dodges major NCAA penalties in five-year probe into handling of sexual assault claims against football players: School slapped with $5,000 fine and recruiting restrictions

The NCAA infractions committee said Wednesday that its years-long investigation into the Baylor University sexual assault scandal would result in four years probation and other sanctions, though the 'unacceptable' behavior at the heart of the case did not violate NCAA rules.

The NCAA ruling came more than five years after the scandal broke at the world's largest Baptist university, leading to the firing of successful football coach Art Briles, and the later departures of athletic director Ian McCaw and school president Ken Starr.

In its ruling, the NCAA said the allegations centered on conduct never before presented to the Committee on Infractions, 'namely, that Baylor shielded football student-athletes from the institution's disciplinary process and failed to report allegations of abhorrent misconduct by football student-athletes, including instances of sexual and interpersonal violence.'

The panel said Baylor admitted to moral and ethical failings in its handling of sexual violence on campus but argued 'that those failings, however egregious, did not constitute violations of NCAA legislation.'

'Ultimately, and with tremendous reluctance, this panel agrees,' the ruling said.

The NCAA said the case that led to penalties involved Level II and III impermissible benefits and drug testing violations in Baylor's football program, and Level II violations involving the institution's student host program.

Along with the four years probation and a $5,000 fine, Baylor will face recruiting restrictions during the 2021-22 academic year. There could also be a vacation of all records in which athletes competed while ineligible, which came during a time when Baylor won two Big 12 titles and had four 10-win seasons in a span of five years.

The NCAA infractions committee said Wednesday that its years-long investigation into the Baylor University sexual assault scandal would result in four years probation and other sanctions, though the 'unacceptable' behavior at the heart of the case did not violate NCAA rules. Baylor players celebrate a touchdown at a home game in Waco in 2015

In 2017, former Baylor football coach Art Briles (pictured here in 2015) denied covering up sexual violence by his players or trying to obstruct an investigations tied to the assault scandal

The NCAA ruling came more than five years after the scandal broke at the world's largest Baptist university, leading to the firing of successful football coach Art Briles, and the later departures of athletic director Ian McCaw and school president Ken Starr (pictured in 2012). Starr famously prosecuted President Bill Clinton at his impeachment trial 

In 2017, Briles insisted he did not cover up sexual violence by his players or try to obstruct any investigations tied to the assault scandal.

Briles released a one-page letter defending himself against allegations that he ignored incidents of assault and ran a rogue football program full of miscreants. The letter was issued one day after the Texas Rangers, the state's elite criminal investigations unit, said it had opened a preliminary probe into how Baylor handled assault reports over several years.

'I did not cover-up any sexual violence. I had no contact with anyone that claimed to be a victim of sexual or domestic assault. Anyone well-versed in my work as a coach knows that I strove to promote excellence, but never at the sacrifice of safety for anyone,' Briles wrote . 'I did not obstruct justice on campus or off.'

When alerted to an assault incident, Briles said, his response was that victims should go to the police so it could be prosecuted.

Briles recently resigned as head coach of Mount Vernon High School in Texas, where he posted a 20-6 record over two seasons. 

Baylor's football program has had several players convicted of sexual assault, including Tevin Elliott in 2014 and Sam Ukwuachu in 2015.

Elliott is currently serving 20 years in prison after four women said he sexually assaulted them, while Ukwuachu was also convicted of sexual assault and placed on probation by a 54th State District Court jury.  

Later Ukwuachu's conviction was briefly overturned by Waco's 10th Court of Appeals before it was reinstated by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.  

Former Baylor player Shawn Oakman was emotional after being acquitted on a 2016 rape charge by a Texas jury in March of 2019. The 26-year-old says he now hopes to play in the NFL

The scandal surrounding the football team resulted in Briles's firing and McCaw's resignation. 

Starr - who once investigated Bill Clinton as an independent counsel during the former President's impeachment trial - was demoted and then resigned. 

Since then, the university has settled several lawsuits from women who said their allegations of sexual assault by football players were mishandled or ignored.

Baylor officials settled a federal lawsuit in 2018 involving a former volleyball player who said she was drugged and gang raped by members of the football team in 2012.

A former Baylor student accused of raping a woman at a fraternity party was granted a plea deal in December that let him avoid serving jail time.

The swollen Brazos River runs just behind the playing field before the Iowa State Cyclones take on the Baylor Bears at McLane Stadium on October 24, 2015 in Waco, Texas

In February of 2019, a Central Texas jury found former Baylor football player Shawn Oakman not guilty of raping another student in 2016. The McLennan County jury deliberated about two hours in Waco before acquitting Oakman of sexual assault.

The woman who says she was raped testified earlier that she'd been drinking and was intoxicated when Oakman assaulted her. She said she told Oakman that she wanted to leave his duplex that night but he wouldn't allow it.

Oakman's attorney told jurors that the two wanted to be together that night and that they had consensual sex.

At the time of the acquittal, Starr told the Waco Tribune-Herald that he hosted a fundraiser at his home for Oakman's legal defense fund. 

'I believe fervently in the right of all defendants to have a fair trial,' Starr said. 'In our country's system of justice, far too many innocent individuals are wrongly convicted of crimes they did not commit.'  

Starr says he decided to raise the money after one of Oakman's first attorneys told him that Oakman's family didn't have the money to retain experts who could testify in his defense.

He declined to say how much was raised.