Ex-Baylor star Shawn Oakman indicted for sexual assault

ByMark Schlabach ESPN logo
Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Former Baylor All-American defensive end Shawn Oakman, the school's all-time sack leader, was indicted on charges of second-degree felony sexual assault by a grand jury in Waco, Texas, on Wednesday.

Police in Waco arrested Oakman in April after a Baylor graduate student accused him of sexually assaulting her at his apartment on April 3. He was freed on $25,000 bond after his arrest.

The McLennan County District Attorney's office presented the case to a grand jury on Wednesday morning.

Oakman, who was once considered a potential second- or third-round pick in this year's NFL draft, went undrafted after his arrest.

"I think an indictment is just a prosecutor's rubber stamp and requires a much lower burden of proof than one required for a conviction, which is beyond a reasonable doubt," said Michelle Tuegel, Oakman's attorney. "We still have a lot of investigation and work to do in this case. Shawn maintains that the sex in this case was consensual."

The woman, a Baylor graduate student, told police that Oakman "forcibly removed" her clothes, forced her onto his bed and then sexually assaulted her, according to a search warrant affidavit obtained by ESPN.

According to the affidavit, the woman had a sexual assault examination performed at a medical center.

The warrant said Oakman, who graduated from Baylor in December, said he had consensual sex with the woman.

The woman told police that she met Oakman at a Waco nightclub April 3 and then returned to his duplex with him late that night. The woman told police that she left his duplex after she was sexually assaulted but left her underwear and an earring there.

Police searched Oakman's duplex, according to the affidavit, and collected two comforters, a fitted sheet and a flat sheet from his bedroom.

Oakman had 128 tackles and 17 sacks in three years at Baylor. He started his college career at Penn State but was dismissed in 2012 for allegedly stealing a sandwich and grabbing a female store clerk's wrist.

He is the third former Baylor player to be indicted for sexual assault in recent years.

In August, defensive end Sam Ukwuachu was convicted of sexually assaulting a female Baylor athlete in October 2013 and was sentenced to 180 days in jail and 10 years of probation. Baylor reached a settlement with Ukwuachu's victim in December after she filed a Title IX lawsuit against the school.

In 2014, former Baylor defensive end Tevin Elliott was sentenced to 20 years in prison for sexually assaulting two female students in 2012. Two other women testified at his trial that he sexually assaulted them too. Last month, one of Elliott's victims filed a federal lawsuit against Baylor for not protecting her Title IX rights.