ESPN is tackling the Title IX issue in higher education, focusing on how various schools stand accused of violating the federal gender equity law by not properly adjudicating sexual assault.

"Outside the Lines," ESPN's investigative journalism television show, will air the piece at nine a.m. ET on ESPN. The investigation focused primarily on Derrick Washington, a former University of Missouri star running back who was accused four times of acts of violence toward women before he was formally charged.

Two women who claimed to be victimized by Washington spoke with OTL, one on the condition of anonymity. Washington was first accused of sexual assault in 2008, then again in 2010, which was the incident that he was eventually charged for.

Teresa Braeckel told OTL she did not know Washington was accused of sexual assault, even though she was his tutor when they were both students. The assault scared her so much, she moved back home, but not before filing a police report and obtaining a restraining order against Washington.

Before Braeckel's assault, Washington was also accused of punching a soccer player on the Missouri women's soccer team. Though she wanted to press charges, she later said her coach talked her out of it by convincing her she would lose her scholarship if the incident became headline news.

Missouri head football coach suspended Washington in Aug. 2010 and he was charged with deviate sexual assault later that month. While out on bail, he was again arrested for assaulting his ex-girlfriend. In Sept. 2011, Washington was then convicted for sexually assaulting Braeckel, but he served four months of a five-year sentence as part of a plea deal and a first-time offender program.

The U.S. Education Department's Office for Civil Rights is currently investigating 76 schools for alleged Title IX violations. The law requires schools to properly investigate and adjudicate anyone accused of sexually discriminatory crimes.

An "extensive" survey from Sen. Claire McCaskill conducted earlier this year revealed that 22 percent of schools hand oversight of sexual assault reports involving student-athletes to the athletic department. McCaskill questioned NCAA president Mark Emmert in in July as to why that would be allowed to happen.

Derrick Washington was an electric running back for the Missouri Tigers and he was even named a team captain at one point. He played two full seasons at Missouri in 2008 and 2009 and scored 29 touchdowns in that timeframe, not missing a single game.