By Rachel Stone
The Daily Texan
August 29, 2001

The former University of Texas-Austin Police Department officer accused of sexually assaulting a UT student last spring was the subject of a sexual harassment complaint in October 1999, according to UT personnel documents.

A female security guard employed by the University alleged that at approximately 3:15 a.m. on Oct. 17, 1999, she accepted a ride with Officer Sellers Bailey III in his patrol car so he could give her a tour of off-campus UT buildings. The woman said she thought she was going to receive training. The female officer's name was not released.

UTPD officials said they could not comment on the case due to pending litigation.

In a letter dated Oct. 29, 1999, the woman told UT administrators that Bailey asked her during the ride to photograph her breasts and genitals and show the pictures to him, propositioned her for a "threesome" and asked if she would like to see pictures of his genitals. She said she refused his advances and told him their relationship should remain professional. The woman said as Bailey drove her around North Austin neighborhoods, she was afraid he would rape her.

In a later interview, she alleged that Bailey told her about his experience as a bouncer in a strip club and about having sex with women while he was in the military. She complained further that Bailey kept pictures of naked and half-naked women on his locker when she worked with him at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library.

Bailey denied the allegations in a Nov. 18, 1999, interview with a UTPD investigator.

"Who is this [word withheld] that she can allege the most bizarre and easily disproved things and it is suddenly forgotten that I have worked for the University of Texas Police Department for nearly nine years and have not only worked with and around women; but have been around some of the most attractive young women in the world and have never had a similar complaint reported or filed against me?" said Bailey in a statement.

Through their investigation of the report, UT administrators found the female officer's claim against Bailey was unfounded.

In relation to the investigation of the complaint, however, Bailey received a three-day suspension for three violations of the UT System Police Code of Conduct.

According to documents, Bailey engaged in prohibited activities while on duty, including sleeping, loafing or being idle; knowingly falsified reports by calling in building checks he had not performed to the dispatcher and lying to the dispatcher.

The woman's supervisors fired her. She filed a grievance claiming her supervisors unfairly fired her in relation to her complaint.

After receiving his suspension, Bailey filed a grievance, claiming investigators had not spoken to all witnesses, including a fellow UTPD officer who could "vouch" for Bailey's whereabouts at the time of the incident.

The grievance board overturned his suspension and reinstated his pay.

On April 30, a UT student alleged Bailey sexually assaulted her after he responded to a minor one-car accident.

The student told police Bailey told her to park her car and get into his patrol car. He then drove her to the fifth floor of the parking garage near the Beauford H. Jester Center, where he allegedly forced her to perform oral sex on him.

After the incident, the woman told police she returned to the parking garage to retrieve paper towels from a trash can, which tests later confirmed contained Bailey's bodily fluid.

Immediately after the incident, UTPD officials placed Bailey on administrative leave, and he resigned May 2.

A Travis County grand jury indicted Bailey on Aug. 10, but no court date has been set.