Kenn Starr doubts gang rapes occurred at Baylor

Ken Starr, the former president of scandal-ridden Baylor, expressed doubts about gang rapes occurring at the troubled school.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal on Thursday, Starr said administrators were concerned about his preferential treatment of athletes following the suspension of former Baylor linebacker Tevin Elliott for academic misconduct.

Elliott was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in 2014 of a 2012 sexual assault of a former Baylor student. His conviction occurred after four Baylor students testified they were sexually assaulted by Elliott.

Including Elliott's conviction, school regents told the Wall Street Journal that 17 women reported sexual or domestic assaults involving 19 different football players since 2011.

Although outside firm Pepper Hamilton concluded the school had "institutional failures at every level", Starr doubted the charges.

"I personally have doubts that there were gang rapes," Starr told the Wall Street Journal.

Since the investigation, football coach Art Briles was fired while athletic director Ian McCaw was suspended before eventually resigning.

Starr severed ties with Baylor on Aug. 19. He lost his job as president and chancellor in May as part of the fallout of the scandal.

He continued to teach at the law school but accepted to "a mutually agreed separation".

Before taking the job at Baylor, Starr was best known for being a former independent counselor who is perhaps best known for investigating former U.S. President Bill Clinton's affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky in the late 1990s.

He was named president at Baylor on June 1, 2010. He was appointed chancellor in November 2013.