Baylor Sexual Assault Scandal Results In Ken Starr Demotion, Art Briles Firing

Ken Starr — the former attorney who in the 1990s investigated President Bill Clinton's relationship with Monica Lewinsky — is no longer the president of Baylor University following the mishandling of sexual assault cases on his campus, including several involving football players.

Football coach Art Briles, who turned a perennial basement-dwelling team into a national title contender, was "suspended with intent to fire," while athletic director Ian McCaw was put on probation.

Starr will "transition" into the role of chancellor while remaining a professor at Baylor's law school, according to a university announcement.

The changes were announced alongside the release of an explosive report detailing how slow the school was to respond to allegations of sexual assault, including more than two years in one case involving a football player.

Starr became a national name serving as independent counsel to the White House, where he concluded Clinton had committed perjury when he denied having sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky in a sworn testimony. The conclusion eventually led to Clinton's impeachment.

At a recent panel discussion on the presidency in Philadelphia, Starr called Clinton, “the most gifted politician of the baby boomer generation.”

As Baylor's president, he oversaw a school that the report said "failed to consistently support" complaints of sexual assault and "failed to take action to identify and eliminate a potential hostile environment, prevent its recurrence, or address its effects for individual complainants or the broader campus community."

The review, conducted by the Pepper Hamilton law firm, was ordered by the university in September 2015 when football player Sam Ukwuachu was sentenced for sexually assaulting a freshman soccer player. Questions remained about how much Baylor knew about Ukwuachu's past. His former girlfriend testified at the trial that he had been violently abusive with her when he played at Boise State.

In February, former student Jasmin Hernandez filed a lawsuit claiming that school officials ignored her when she attempted to report a sexual assault against then-football player Tevin Elliott. Elliott was sentenced to a maximum 20 years in prison for the assault.

As recently as last week, police documents obtained by ESPN showed allegations of sexual assault and domestic violence involving several football players that some officials, including coaches, knew about. However, the players were not disciplined.

Thursday's report said that investigators found "examples of actions by two university administrators that directly discouraged complainants from reporting or participating in student conduct processes, or that contributed to or accommodated a hostile environment."

Briles, the football coach, was believed to be one of the highest-paid college coaches in the country. Baylor is a private university, so salary information is not public, but the school's tax return showed a base salary of $4.2 million, according to ESPN.

Feroze Dhanoa contributed to this report.