Report: Baylor player arrested for stalking had prior sexual assault claim
Arrested for stalking, Rami Hammad was also accused in fall of 2015 of sexually assaulting a student
Now that the lid has been opened on Baylor's previous string of sexual and physical assault cases, it was only a matter of time before more stories surfaced. Such is the case with the alleged events involving Bears offensive lineman Rami Hammad.
The even more appalling part, however, is that the incidents involving Hammad -- as documented by Outside the Lines -- occurred after Texas Monthly broke open the Sam Ukwuachu story and after Baylor supposedly upped its Title IX protocol. That's when Baylor began receiving increasing press about how it handled sexual assault claims.
According to OTL, Hammad, who was arrested Monday on a felony stalking charge, was "accused last fall of sexually assaulting a student and violating a university-issued no-contact order after confronting the woman."
The woman who claims Hammad sexually assaulted her is different from Hammad's ex-girlfriend, who said Hammad repeatedly harassed and physically assaulted her from March to July. Hammad has since been suspended from the team because of his arrest. He was released Tuesday on a $5,000 bond.
The alleged sexual assault occurred last fall when the woman said Hammad, whom she had only recently met, "took her into his apartment bedroom, where he forced her into a sexual act." The woman says she did not report the incident to police "because she didn't think what happened would mean anything to a police officer because she did not perceive what happened to be rape, and she said she was worried about the repercussions of reporting a football player."
However, the woman later reported Hammad to Baylor's Title IX office and a no-contact order was issued on Sept. 30, 2015.
This is reportedly when things took an even darker turn, as Hammad began harassing the woman:
The woman who filed the report said Hammad soon began texting and calling her during a class to find out if she had reported him to the school. Later that day, while walking back to her dorm, she said she heard a car horn honking and saw Hammad get out of his car and run toward her, asking her about a notice from the Title IX office
Additionally ...
On Oct. 2, 2015, the woman was sitting outside Baylor's student union and talking on the phone when she looked up and saw Hammad in front of her, she told Outside the Lines. "I knew he was very aware there was a no-contact order. He said, 'You know it was consensual.'" She said she didn't respond and tried to get up as Hammad started yelling at her.
On Oct. 3, Hammad played in Baylor's game against Texas Tech in Arlington. Hammad, in fact, played all 13 games last season.
#Baylor hired Pepper Hamilton on Sept. 2. ESPN reports Hammad was ordered "no contact" Sept. 30. Violated Oct. 2. Still played ..
— Jim Vertuno (@JimVertuno) August 4, 2016
As the semester went on, the woman told OTL she became increasingly "frustrated" with the Title IX process. The process came to a head when the woman was told to avoid Hammad by altering her daily routine:
The only communication the woman had with Baylor after the hearing came in a Nov. 12 email from Baylor Chief Judicial Officer Bethany McCraw, the woman told Outside the Lines. The email, reviewed by Outside the Lines, stated the woman needed to start taking a certain exit from a science building to avoid coming in contact with Hammad. It also stated that if the woman needed to access any building on campus where she did not have a scheduled class, or outside of her scheduled class time, that she must email McCraw at least 24 hours ahead of time to get her approval.
The entire story is worth reading, but the big takeaway is that whatever improvements Baylor made in its Title IX department, which was heavily scrutinized in the university's Findings of Fact, they either weren't implemented or didn't go far enough. That these events transpired as Baylor was facing scrutiny for its handling of sexual assault cases makes them even more eye-opening.
In the wake of Pepper Hamilton's investigation and the Findings of Fact, coach Art Briles was suspended and eventually dismissed, athletic director Ian McCaw was placed on probation and president Ken Starr was reassigned. McCaw eventually resigned and Starr stepped down from all leadership positions.
Former Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe was hired as acting coach to replace Briles. Grobe was criticized last month during Big 12 Media Days when he remarked "we don't have a culture of bad behavior at Baylor University." Grobe later clarified his remarks, noting he was talking about current players on the team.
But as OTL notes, Hammad was on the team at the time of Grobe's statement.
















