We're the number-one threat to women! Tonight on 20/20 ` before the tsunami of sexual allegations coming out of Hollywood right now,... Kevin Spacey. FEMALE REPORTER: Comedian Louis CK. ...one lone woman on a much smaller playing field ` A sexual relationship based on blackmail. Yes. an all-American college athlete, an Olympic hopeful terrorised, blackmailed, she says, by her coach. He's like, 'Well, you don't remember last night,' and he showed me pictures. He said, 'You better not tell anybody, or there will be consequences.' He absolutely denies that he blackmailed her. He says their sexual relationship began when she initiated it. Right here tonight, which version will you believe ` her story or blackmail... He put his hands around my neck,... went with the box-cutter to my throat, said, 'I'll kill you right now.' ...or his story of being pushed to it? PHONE: But what isn't up for debate ` his threats. Maybe that's what I should take away ` somethin' that matters to you, like your mom. She woke up I dunno how many times screaming in the night, 'Don't kill my mom. Don't kill my mom.' Now his interrogation tapes,... I said, 'I'll cut your face up so nobody will ever want you again.' ...the text messages from his wife... and the mind games she says she had to use to stay safe. How would he force you to say, 'I love you'? It's easy when you're tryin' to protect your life. (DRAMATIC, PERCUSSIVE THEME MUSIC) Copyright Able 2017 Kia ora. I'm Carolyn Robinson. Welcome to 20/20. In the wake of the spate of allegations of sexual violence levelled at famous Hollywood players like Kevin Spacey, Louis CK and Harvey Weinstein, tonight we are looking at a case which hasn't received much publicity at all. Baillie Gibson is a young American shot-put and discus thrower, a national champion who dreamed of going to the Olympics, but those dreams turned into a nightmare when she accused her coach of forcing her into a three-year sexual relationship. Reporter Deborah Roberts tries to sort through this difficult case. (MOMENTOUS MUSIC) DEBORAH ROBERTS: This is every track-and-field star's dream,... (YELLS) (CHEERING) I'm Baillie Gibson, and I'm a track and field champion. ...but Baillie Gibson's story is not one of Olympic glory; it's a twisted tale of a promising athlete, her mercurial coach, and the dark side of college athletics. And it's resulted in criminal charges, lawsuits and countersuits. You have to realise the threats he made to me. Your only goal is ` what can I do to make sure that I live one more day? 25-year-old Baillie Gibson hails from Casper, Wyoming, known as much for its oil rigs as for its cowboys,... but as a child, Baillie would just as soon skip the rodeo and roughhouse with her two older brothers. A lotta sports and bein' outside and camping, fishing ` you know, all the outdoorsy stuff ` volleyball, basketball, track and softball. Sport's in the family blood. Definitely in the family blood. I don't know any better. I love you. (SNIFFLING) I love you too. MAN: We love you. I love you. Her parents, Billie Joe and Bernie Gibson, say they always knew their daughter was a gifted athlete ` sturdy, supple and strong as a shortstop ` but they were as surprised as anyone to see her excel at a tough track event ` the shot-put. She would do track to stay in shape to get ready for softball, and then the coach said, 'Hey, why don't you try throwing?' And she threw, and they went, 'Oh, you're not a runner; you're a thrower.' (SIGHS SOFTLY) Just escalated from there. The adrenaline you felt before you got in the ring, it was just like a high, kind of ` like, it's you. Baillie Gibson ` a huge favourite. She throws it so far, it goes outta the screen; I couldn't keep up with her. In high school, you began to excel. For all four years, I was state champ in discus, and then in shot-put, I was three years' state champ. A record-setter in both the discus and shot-put ` Baillie Gibson is gonna win the shot-put. She's goin' deep ` 44ft. ESPN's John Barr has been covering Baillie Gibson's story since last year. By the time she was a senior, Baillie Gibson was breaking her own records, and she could throw a discus further than all but one other woman in the entire country. MAN: Gibson firin' away ` the best in Wyoming, ranked second in the nation. What did you start to think this would be for you? I had this big, huge dream of going to Olympics and how cool it'd be, and I wanted to work that much harder to make it to Olympics. She had the power, and she just worked hard every day. She threw. BILLIE JOE: You're talkin' about a girl that when practice was over, it wasn't over for her. She'd stay, and she'd throw, and she'd throw, and she'd throw. It was her life, and she loved it. She loved the game, and college recruiters loved her, one in particular from a Division I powerhouse in multiple sports, the University of Arizona. (CHEERING, CHEERFUL MARCHING BAND MUSIC PLAYS) CHANTING: USA. USA. (CHEERING) Craig Carter came to the home of Baillie Gibson's parents, sat down, spoke with her, spoke with her parents and basically explained to them why the University of Arizona was a good fit for her. Baillie's high school coach was one of my athletes, and so, you know, she calls me and says, 'Hey, I got this thrower,' you know, and that always helped. I start watchin' her, and she was probably one of the best athletes I've ever been around. Craig Carter ` how did he come across to you? What'd you think of him? I thought he was a great guy, that he had good family morals. He pretty much said he was gonna be like a father figure, so, like, he's gonna take care of whatever you need and help you through anything. He says, 'I'll treat her like she was my daughter. I won't let anything happen to her.' It's just somethin' that a father is thinking, 'Well, maybe this is good.' In fact, Coach Carter is a married father of four himself. He brings Baillie to Tucson and U of A for a visit. And you stepped on that campus. That's pretty much where I knew; right when I, like, got to Arizona, I was like, 'Oh, I can train all year round.' I have a great group of girls that I train with. I was just like, 'This is the place I wanna go.' You know right when you get to a certain place, like, where you wanna go to school. One of the girls on the team she meets is Canadian Julie Labonte, who was also recruited by Coach Carter. What did you think of Coach Carter when you met him? I thought he was a really, really nice guy. He was tryin' to be very friendly, and since I'm from a French background, he was tryin' to make little French jokes with, like, Celine Dion and stuff like that. So I thought it was pretty funny. Julie and Baillie hit it off, and Coach Carter is a hit with both of them. Baillie signs on to become an Arizona Wildcat, and there's cash attached ` a full scholarship. Coach Carter would later boast how he lobbied his boss to get Baillie on the team. You know, to be able to get her was huge. I kept telling him, 'Man, this girl's gonna be good.' When she first arrives at U of A in fall 2010, Baillie's laser-focused on athletics, spending all her time practising and weight training. She even picks up a new event, the hammer. They're all better than you. So you're like, 'OK, I gotta step my game up. I gotta practice harder,' because I wanted to be good; I wanted to be great. What about the relationship with Coach Carter? How was that building as you were getting to know him? It was really good my first year and a half. He was very supportive; he was always there. But I can teach you girls how to golf, cos it's just like pushing in. There you go. Yeah. Do it. Through the low point. Mm. (CHUCKLES) But it's during that second year that Baillie and some teammates say they noticed a dramatic change in their coach, like fits of anger and a short fuse. JULIE: He had a lotta mood swings, and then he would just bounce back from one emotion to another emotion. He just got angrier. Like, he would get upset if... we would talk, like, about the weekend or something in practice. So he was having these mood swings, and they were pretty intense, right? Carter was withdrawn. He would just go through these dark periods, and then they said he would go through these periods where he was joking around with them and fully engaged, and you never knew which Craig Carter was gonna show up. Julie says the female throwers become so fed up with Coach Carter's erratic behaviour, they complain to his boss, head coach Fred Harvey and at a team meeting called out Carter's actions directly to his face. You tell us you're a father figure, but we don't need a father figure ` you know, we have a father; we need a coach. And how did he react during this meeting? He was really upset, and then he started crying, and he was very, like, unstable, emotional. He just blamed that he was havin' a really bad family life. Him and his wife were fighting, and so it was like, 'Pity him.' Teammates say an apology follows with promises to be better,... but Baillie's about to find out Coach Carter is a man of many broken promises and dark impulses. Just how dark do things get and how quickly? We'll explain when we come back from this break. (DRAMATIC, PERCUSSIVE THEME MUSIC) (DRAMATIC, PERCUSSIVE THEME MUSIC) Welcome back to 20/20. Tonight we're looking at the story of American Olympic shot-put hopeful Baillie Gibson and her claims she was sexually assaulted by her coach. As we continue, Baillie's living her dream. She's on an athletics scholarship to the University of Arizona, and it looks like the sky is the limit, but dark clouds are gathering. She's battling injury, and her coach, Craig Carter is acting erratically. Again, here's reporter Deborah Roberts. DEBORAH ROBERTS: It's the spring of 2012. Hundreds of the country's top-tier athletes are in Eugene, Oregon ` nicknamed TrackTown USA ` to compete for the chance to represent the red, white, and blue and maybe one day capture gold. The Olympic trials, this is where the best of the best in amateur athletes come to compete to try to punch their tickets to go to the Olympic Games. 20-year-old Arizona Wildcat Baillie Gibson is one of them, but Baillie's coming off a year marked by injury and disappointment, and her performance is less than memorable, coming in a distant 12th in the discus and ninth in the shot-put. Um, didn't go as I wanted it. She knew she had a lot more potential there, so she was disappointed with her performance, definitely. What happens next is still a subject of intense dispute, controversy and pain. Here's what Baillie tells us happened at after the competition ends. Writhing from the agony of defeat, Baillie joins other teammates at a house party. Now, had you all been drinking? Yes. How intoxicated were you? I didn't think I was bad at all ` like, at all. I mean, yeah, I'd been drinking, but it wasn't a lot,... and I don't know` because it was, like, red solo cups, you know. Her friends wanna hit the bars, but Baillie, underage and under the influence, makes a different call to her coach, Craig Carter. Why'd you call him? Because that's what everyone told me to do and what a lot of other athletes do ` is you call the coach. She says Coach Carter quickly comes to get her. She'd later admit she was drunk and says getting in his car is the last thing she remembers. And I get in the car, and then we're driving, and all of a sudden, I don't know what happens. The next day she sees her coach at the airport, and if a hangover and those disappointing standings weren't heavy enough, Baillie says coach Carter is sending her back to Tucson with baggage of a very different kind ` humiliating and shocking. He's like, 'How do you feel?' And I was just like, 'Well, other than I have a huge headache, I feel fine,' you know, and he's like, 'Well, you don't remember last night.' No. (CHUCKLES DRILY) Not at all. She says Carter tells her they had sex in the backseat of his car, and what's more, he's got the pictures to prove it. What were the pictures? Give me a sense of what you saw of yourself. Me laying there with no clothes on... in the backseat of a car. So they were pictures of him having sex with you. Yeah, intercourse. What's your reaction when he's showing these pictures to you? I wanna puke. I'm, like, devastated. What did he say to you next? He's like, 'If you tell anyone, 'like, I'll send these pictures out and show what a whore you are and a slut.' And you believed him. Yeah. Cos I didn't know anything else. I... I didn't want... my body to be everywhere or... to lose my scholarship and go back to my hometown feeling like a failure. She says the four-hour flight back to Tucson's a blur, and when she returns to campus, she says it's not just the fear over her coach's alleged threats keeping her up at night; there's also shame. I thought it was my fault. I was like, 'What did I do? Why would I ever do that?' Like, that's not who I am. That's not what I'm, like, about. Does it occur to you to maybe call your parents? I wanted to, but I was scared what they'd think. I don't wanna look bad in their eyes. But Coach Carter tells a remarkably different story about the nature of their relationship and how it began. He says Baillie... ...alleging she viewed him as... RECORDING: She's like, 'Yeah, I just wanna have sex whenever. You wanna` 'Like, we'll just have sex just for fun.' Soon he says the sex talk turns into action ` a physical, consensual relationship, but however it began, it's not going to end well. Baillie heads home to Wyoming for the summer for what she hopes will be a respite from the remorse and regret, but even 1000 miles away, she claims Carter is making insidious demands, insisting she text nude pictures of herself or else he'll share those compromising photos. That summer, you didn't say anything to your parents. No. And is it difficult for you, keeping that secret? Yeah. It's hard when you can't tell the people who you love what's really goin' on with you. Then when she arrives back on campus for her junior years, she says Coach Carter calls her to his office. He's like, 'You didn't tell anyone?' 'No, I didn't tell anybody.' He's like, 'Good, because we're gonna have sex a lot more.' And I was like, 'Well, I don't want that.' Are you thinking maybe or reporting him to the university, maybe calling the police? I thought about that, but what are they going to say? 'Well, you wanted it.' So you're thinking it's his word against yours. Yeah, and he's got all the power. How often were you seeing each other... sexually? Like, twice, three times a week. Romance you? He would just send a text. It was like, 'Hey... Carter would later insist that there was a genuine emotional bond between them. I don't know how he didn't pick up that I did not want him. Back in Wyoming, Baillie's parents are concerned when their third-year college student is suddenly and inexplicably homesick. BILLIE JOE: You know, she started wantin' to come home a lot. She'd show up ` 'Surprise.' And I just thought, 'Well, she just needs to come home; she misses home,' but then when she'd get a phone call in the middle of the visit and she'd run to the other room, it's like, 'Well, who is that?' She says, 'It's Coach.' I said, 'So what's Coach saying?' 'Well, he's gotta talk to me. He's tellin' me my workouts and stuff like that,' and so I just shrugged it off, but I thought it was kinda weird. Did you see any changes in Baillie? Did she seem her usual self around that time and after that time? Well, I noticed she was a little bit more, like, down on herself. She was not as, like, the smiley Baillie that I knew. How was her relationship with Coach Carter during this period? Is anything any different? They would butt head a lot. So sometimes she'd say, 'OK, I'm not allowed to talk right now at practice. 'He told me I'm not allowed to smile,' and I thought that was very, very weird, because he` The coach told her she's not allowed to smile? Yes, and that was weird to me, because he didn't say anything along those lines to any of the other athletes. Coming up ` Baillie says she finds the courage to call a halt to the arrangement, but her coach won't take no for an answer. He grabbed you and put a box-cutter to your throat? Yes. What's going on in your mind? 'I'm not gonna make it alive.' (UNSETTLED MUSIC) So things are set to escalate. We'll have those explosive claims when 20/20 returns right after this break. (DRAMATIC, PERCUSSIVE THEME MUSIC) (DRAMATIC, PERCUSSIVE THEME MUSIC) Welcome back. Tonight 20/20 is investigating claims that a top-level athlete ` an American shot-putter, who was planning to go to the Olympics ` was forced into a three-year sexual relationship with her much older and married coach. As Deborah Roberts continues the story, it looks like the relationship is about to become public. Baillie is at breaking point, and things are about to take a dangerous turn. (LOW, UNSETTLED MUSIC) DEBORAH ROBERTS: This looks like an ordinary office, but Baillie Gibson claims that for more than two years, it was a place of torture where her coach, Craig Carter, coerced her into countless sexual encounters. Baillie tells no one, despair creeping into every part of her life. She turns to food to help her cope. I ate. That's kinda my comfort, is eating, and I got heavier, and I didn't really sleep a lot, so I was very depressed. I had to act somewhat normal, but inside I was just dying. What was the lowest point for you? When I was totally done with, like, everything. I didn't wanna be an Olympian any more. I didn't wanna do track. I didn't wanna go out with my friends. I didn't wanna do anything. Then by happenstance, the secret begins to unravel. In November of 2013, a female track-and-field staffer knocked on Craig Carter's office door. It was locked. He took a long time to come to the door, and when he finally did emerge, his clothing was dishevelled, and Baillie Gibson was sitting on a couch in his office. She grew concerned that something inappropriate was going on inside the office, and so she reported it. Whether consensual or otherwise, it is strictly forbidden according to the University of Arizona policy, which states... Craig Carter was called into a meeting on November 5th of 2013 with his head coach, Fred Harvey, and the athletic director at the time, Greg Byrne. ESPN investigative reporter John Barr obtained this memo where school attorneys advised Byrne, the athletic director, to say the following to Carter. In the column of the notes, he writes 'Baillie Gibson'. During that November 2013 meeting, Coach Carter lies, adamantly denying a sexual relationship with Baillie Gibson to his superiors. There was no further investigation of him. According to Craig Carter, that meeting was the last of it. He denied it, and that's where it ended. They never asked to see his phone that was issued by the university. They never looked at his university email account, but they asked Craig Carter, 'What will Baillie tell us if we talk to her about what happened?' What will Baillie say? before the university did. Craig called me and said, 'Hey, someone saw something. 'You better not answer anything.' He's like, 'Don't say anything.' So the coach is telling you not to cooperate. Mm-hm. 'Don't say anything.' Yeah. 'And if you do, tell 'em that I was just comforting you that day.' So the university now is aware of this relationship. Do they contact you? They emailed me, but they did not confront me in person at all. Here are the two emails Baillie says she was sent from the school's anti-harassment office, informing her they received a report that she... ...and listing campus resources she could contact, if she wants assistance. Baillie never responds. You don't reply. No. Why not? Well, how am I s'posed to? He told me not to. He knew that the email was comin'. But this is a chance for you to blow the whistle on him. But what I if I do and he... decides to retaliate? Am I gonna be protected? But instead of messaging the university, Baillie continues messaging her coach, not only about practice but something much more graphic ` explicit images of herself. Carter claims she sent him dozens of naked pictures and pornographic videos. Why are you doing that? Because to some people, this looks like a girl who's tryin' to come on to her coach. Because it's easier for me to do that than actually have to have intercourse with him, and if he liked what I sent, then I didn't have to have intercourse with him. So this was purely a sexual... relationship based on blackmail. Yes. For the next 16 months, Baillie says she continues to suffer in silence until she reaches a breaking point and begins sobbing in this campus parking lot with her best friend and teammate Julie Labonte. I ask her, 'Why are you crying?' Cos she's a very, very strong woman. Usually, she doesn't show a lot of emotion, so I knew that deep down, there was somethin' goin' on. Julie keeps pressing. 'Was it a relative? An ex-boyfriend?' And then I mentioned Craig's name, and she started crying even more. Then that's when she told me that he had naked pictures of her. 'If you say anything, somethin' bad will happen to you.' This is your best friend revealing to you that she's essentially been blackmailed into sex. Exactly. It was very, very tragic. I was in shock. I was so mad. I'm her best friend, and I lived with her, and, you know, I didn't see those signs. But instead of going to the authorities, Baillie decides to confront Coach Carter herself. Reach for the bucket, like I was tellin' Baillie. It's less than a month away from graduation, and she says she decides to tell Coach Craig Carter she'll no longer give in to his sexual demands. I go to his office, and I say, 'I'm not gonna do this any more. 'You can hurt me, but I'm not going to be this person to you any more. Like, I'm done. I said, 'I've never loved you,' and he got mad, and that's when he put his hands around my neck, went with a box-cutter to my throat, said, 'I'll kill you right now.' He grabbed you and put a box-cutter to your throat? Yes. What's going on in your mind? 'I'm not going to make it alive if I don't say what he wants me to.' Baillie says she'd never seen that aggressive behaviour in her coach and decides the only way to avert disaster is to back down and apologise. I knew if I didn't say I'm sorry, then I would die right there. Next ` coach Carter goes from a box-cutter to a shotgun,... PHONE: ...but Baillie Gibson's armed with powerful weapon of her own ` a cell phone. Just how far will Coach Carter go? Stay with us to find out. (DRAMATIC, PERCUSSIVE THEME MUSIC) MAN: Look around. As the Favourites come out, it begins. Observing with an eagle eye. Mastering the art of stashing. Oh, brilliant move, Gran! Cadbury Favourites. (DRAMATIC, PERCUSSIVE THEME MUSIC) Welcome back to 20/20. Tonight we're looking at the case of a top female athlete who claims she was blackmailed into a sexual relationship with her coach. For nearly three years, Baillie Gibson says her coach at the University of Arizona, Craig Carter, has been forcing her to have sex. Baillie's trying to break away, but Carter is about to get violent, sending threatening emails and even turning up at her home with a gun. Here's reporter Deborah Roberts. DEBORAH ROBERTS: It's an April morning in 2015. Baillie Gibson and her fellow shot-put thrower Julie Labonte are roommates, living alone in this off-campus house. But they're about to get company. He came to the house, and he was knocking on our door. It's their volatile track coach, Craig Carter. Remember, the evening before, he allegedly threatened Baillie with a box-cutter. What was he saying? We acted like we weren't there, but he knew we were, cos he was sending me texts like, 'I'm outside. You haven't left your house since 6am. I know you're inside. 'You better answer. You better come answer.' And he was walking around our house. Every single window, he tried, every single door. What was he saying when he's out there? 'I'm in front of your home.' 'You better have your gun, because I brought mine.' And then we're very, very scared, so we're actually going around the house just to make sure everything is locked. We're like, 'Is he gonna, like, bust out the door and come in and then shoot us?' The two terrified young women barricade themselves in the bathroom, while Baillie gets text messages from Carter like this ` How scared were you? Scared. We sat in the bathroom, and we were both crying, and we didn't have anything to protect ourselves. Were you afraid you were going to die? Yes. Did you think of calling the police at that moment? You're in the house; he's outside circling the house ` why didn't you just call the police? Could they really protect me? In an email, he says, 'You think the cops can get to you faster than I can. 'If I'm breakin' through your house and I have a gun loaded, comin' right at you, 'you think they're gonna save you?' She says after about an hour of prowling around outside the house, Carter finally leaves and soon issues a warning shot of sorts. Later that same day, Craig Carter sent a text to Baillie Gibson with what appeared to be a gun barrel in his mouth and the message... Now, he later said that it wasn't a gun barrel; it was just a pipe, but if you're Baillie Gibson in that moment, I'm sure it was unnerving, to say the least. Then about 30 minutes later another text ` For Baillie's best friend Julie, it is the breaking point. She's had enough and decides it's time ` time, she says, to turn the tables on their tormentor of a track coach. So she helps Baillie hatch a plan to secretly record him. I told Baillie; I'm like, 'This is not right, what he's saying. You should, like, take your phone, honestly, and record this and send that to the authorities.' You wanted her to have evidence. Yes. So when Carter angrily calls Julie's phone, looking for Baillie, they secretly hit the record button,... (LOW, UNSETTLED MUSIC) ...for more than an hour, Carter threatening and desperate. (LOW, UNSETTLED MUSIC CONTINUES) (MUSIC CONTINUES) It was an incredible phone call in that he made several damning threats. Craig Carter, more than anything, is trying to get Baillie Gibson to meet him one last time for a sexual encounter. To de-escalate the situation, Baillie agrees to meet her coach later that week, but Carter doesn't leave her alone, instead sending her a series of hostile emails. (LOW, UNSETTLED MUSIC) Craig Carter's actions were not rational by any measure. This is a guy who was coming unhinged, and the emails that he sent to Baillie Gibson were so graphic and so disturbing, unlike anything I've ever seen a coach send an athlete. Then two days later, Coach Carter ambushes her outside one of her classes. I turn around, and he's right behind me, and he had this smirk on his face like, 'I caught you.' I said, 'I don't wanna talk to you,' and he grabbed my arm, and he said, 'You can either do this the easy or the hard way.' It's a consequential mistake. There are plenty of witnesses, one student even calling 911. (LOW, UNSETTLED MUSIC) (MUSIC CONTINUES) Thanks to that 911 call, campus police are now actively investigating. At that point, the University of Arizona was coming to grips with the fact that one of its coaches had issued some serious, serious threats to a student athlete. But it doesn't prevent Carter from sending Baillie this ominous email. Baillie says she'd become nearly numb to his threats, but this one is unlike any other. (SHARP NOTE) (LOW, UNSETTLED MUSIC) I could've cared less at that point, that if he killed me, but the point when he brought in my family and friends, that was the main part where I was like, 'That could happen.' Finally, Baillie calls her mother and reveals her deep secret. I was crying. I tell her everything. At that point, I'm... I'm so distraught. I was like, 'I just want you to love me. I don't want you to think bad of me.' She arranges to meet up with her parents in Las Vegas. I just held her, and she cried, and that night we went to bed, and she woke up I don't know how many times screaming in the night, having dreams, and one of 'em was,... 'No, don't kill my mom. Don't kill my mom.' She said, 'I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to quit lovin' me.' That's hard. Next ` Coach Carter is in the interrogation room, turning the tables,... She was the one that was, you know, kinda comin' on to me. ...and surprising texts from Baillie that appear to bolster his claim. To some people, that sounds like a girl maybe who's got a crush on her coach. Stay with us ` there are more explosive revelations to come right after this break. (DRAMATIC, PERCUSSIVE THEME MUSIC) (DRAMATIC, PERCUSSIVE THEME MUSIC) Welcome back to 20/20 and tonight's story, focusing on claims made by a top American athlete that she was blackmailed into a sexual relationship with her older, married coach. After years of silence, Baillie Gibson has spoken out, and police have enough evidence to arrest her coach, Craig Carter. But are Carter's threatening texts and emails and his violent behaviour enough to get a conviction? Again, here's Deborah Roberts. (INTRIGUING MUSIC) DEBORAH ROBERTS: Renowned college coach Craig Carter is used to being in a position of authority, but on this day, he's answering to the authorities, arrested and later charged with assaulting college athlete Baillie Gibson. The Arizona track-and-field coach accused of stalking and assaulting an athlete. After years of silence, Baillie had finally given the police an account of the sordid saga, and now in the interrogation room ` Coach Carter making shocking admissions,... You know, we had sex and... and, um, more sex. ...fully admitting not only to a sexual relationship... How many times a week? Once, maybe twice, but that was not every week, you know? ...but also to attacking Baillie with that box-cutter. You said you had the box-cutter. I think I said, 'I... 'I'll cut your face up so nobody` nobody will ever want you again.' He offers an explanation. I told her... (SNIFFLES) When we got in that fight, I was like,... 'You're the devil. '(BLEEP) you. (SNIFFLES) 'You ruined a family.' And as for their relationship, he maintains that she started it. I have to say it ` it's always` it's all my fault, but yet, she was the one that was, you know, kinda coming on to me, and I never been with another woman in my life besides my wife, and I just (SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY). I dunno, I just felt like I (STAMMERS) fell in love or... I dunno. There was a point on the video where the detective left the interrogation room and left Carter alone. (SNIFFLES, SOBS) (LOW, UNSETTLED MUSIC) He must've been starting to grasp just what he'd done and what the consequences would be. (EXHALES HEAVILY) But during the investigation, some striking messages that Baillie sent to Carter begin to emerge, raising questions about the nature of their relationship, messages like this one. That doesn't sound like a girl who's being forced into a sexual relationship. But you have to realise that if I didn't say those things, he would try to hurt me. To some people, that sounds like a young girl maybe who's got a crush on her coach. Yeah. It's not, though. It's clearly me saying what I have to so he doesn't either hurt me or hurt anyone else around me. But you understand how to some people these would sound like` Oh, yeah. I definitely understand. Yeah. Like a consensual relationship. Yeah, and I do understand that. Some people would ask you, Baillie, 'How could he force you to say, "I love you?"' Well, it's easy when you're tryin' to protect your life. Another puzzling detail ` turns out when Baillie finally told campus police about her situation, they understand it to have begun as a consensual relationship, and Baillie first tells them it all began on campus before those Olympic trials. She now says what she told us happened in Oregon is in fact the true story. Within two weeks, Carter is indicted by an Arizona grand jury on four felony counts, including... He pleads 'not guilty',... but curiously, no sexual-assault charges are filed. These prosecutors clearly believe they can prove the stalking; they can prove the box-cutter incident, but sexual assault would be a tougher argument for them to win. Craig Carter is released from jail on bond and resigns from his coaching job just as Baillie returns to Arizona to graduate, but she says the excitement of the day is overshadowed by fear. So what are you thinking as you're going to get your diploma? 'Please don't let him be in the crowd and gonna shoot me on the stage. 'Please can I just walk across it and get my diploma and be safe?' The college graduate's special day comes and goes without any Carter contact, but at one point she does receive a text, this one not from Carter but from his wife. What did she say? She said, 'Will you just please stop this? You know he's a good guy.' Jo-Anne Carter, pleading with Baillie, texts... (LOW, UNSETTLED MUSIC) She's apparently standing by her man, even after her husband admits to a nearly three-year-long sexual relationship with a student. Even if this was consensual, him being coach and her being student makes it a violation certainly of NCAA rules... and potentially worse. There's no question that this relationship in and of itself was an abuse of power. by him towards her. Six months after Carter's arrest, Baillie files a civil suit alleging that Carter committed acts of rape and that the University of Arizona, the head track coach, Fred Harvey, and athletic director Greg Byrne failed to protect her from inappropriate sexual conduct. Greg Byrne wouldn't comment for this report. The essence of her argument against Coach Carter is, 'You did this to me.' The essence of her argument against everyone else is, 'You could've and should've stopped this. Now, you had an opportunity... 'Reporter John Barr investigated the story for ESPN's Outside the Lines.' We spoke to a number of different attorneys who specialise in Title IX issues. All of them agree that the University of Arizona just did the bare minimum when it had information that there was something inappropriate going on. And Arizona residents may be especially interested in this tidbit. Because U of A is a state school, they're obligated to foot the bill to defend that civil suit, including Carter's defence ` more than $600,000 to date. You can understand why taxpayers in the state of Arizona are saying, 'What?! 'We have to help foot his bill?' In a statement to ABC News, the University of Arizona said it took immediate action after Baillie spoke up about Carter and it and... Craig, this is John Barr calling from ESPN. Embattled former college coach Craig Carter declines to talk with us on camera about the Baillie Gibson case, but he does speak with ESPN's John Barr on the phone. (LOW, INTRIGUING MUSIC) (MUSIC CONTINUES) What did you make of that conversation? Well, he was surprisingly candid. He didn't deny that he had a sexual relationship with Baillie Gibson, but he maintained that it started as a consensual relationship and continued as a consensual relationship. He acknowledged that he put his hands on Baillie Gibson that day in his office. (LOW, INTRIGUING MUSIC CONTINUES) Baillie denies provoking her coach. Carter also admits that he violated Arizona school policy. What about those pictures? She says that he held these pictures over her head. He absolutely denies that he blackmailed her. But Carter is doing more than just denying sexual assault; he's lobbing accusations back at Baillie, countersuing the former athlete for defaming him. Craig Carter has filed a counter lawsuit against Baillie Gibson, alleging that she initiated and enthusiastically pursued a sexual relationship with him with the intention of destroying his career and family. They're saying that you're lying, that you aggressively pursued him, knowing that you were going to wreck his career and wreck his family life. They're blaming you. Yeah. It's ridiculous. How can I wreck his marriage when he knows what he's doing? I've never,... ever had an affection feeling towards that man ` ever. As he continues his fight in court,... Oh! What? MAN: Oh. ...Carter's now living with his family back in Utah, awaiting trial, with no monitoring bracelet, and as for Baillie, though they're hundreds of miles apart, she's constantly looking over her shoulder ` I'm still depressed. I still have my hard times. I'm back home, and I see a car that looks like his, and my heart stops. He could come to my home anytime. a broken young woman, a would-be champion now fighting just to survive. If you would've asked me at the beginning what my life was gonna be like, I would've said I was gonna be an Olympian. Now what is my life gonna be like? I hope to just live another day. Craig Carter has turned down a plea deal that would've seen him serve less than four years in jail. If convicted at his trial next March, he'll face up to 27 years behind bars. Well, that's our show for tonight. Thank you for joining us. Kia ora. Nga mihi. (DRAMATIC, PERCUSSIVE THEME MUSIC)