A Tennessee jury found former Vanderbilt University football player Brandon Vandenburg guilty Saturday in the sexual assault of an unconscious female student, said Stephanie Mosley, a court officer with presiding Judge Monte D. Watkins.
Vandenburg was accused of taking the woman, whom he was dating, into a dorm room on the Nashville campus in June 2013, where three teammates sexually assaulted her.
The sentence comes not long after another on-campus sex assault case gained notoriety. Former Stanford University swimmer Brock Turner was sentenced to six months in prison for sexually assaulting an unconscious student behind a dumpster.
The jury convicted Vandenburg of five counts of aggravated rape, two counts of aggravated sexual battery, and one count of unlawful photography. He will be held in jail and sentenced at a later date.
This was the second time Vandenburg was convicted in the sex assault.
He and another player, Corey Lamont Batey, were found guilty in January 2015 but Judge Watkins declared a mistrial after finding one of the jurors was biased and not impartial. The judge said the man who became the jury foreman was the victim in a statutory rape case, information the man failed to disclose when asked during the selection process.
Jurors deliberated five hours before reaching a decision Saturday, CNN affiliate WSMV reported. Vandenburg showed little emotion as the verdict was read.
Vanderbilt Vice Chancellor for Public Affairs Beth Fortune issued a statement Saturday night, saying:the school’s first thoughts are with the victim, “who has shown incredible strength and fortitude as she has endured another retrial.
“It is our sincere hope that today’s verdict strongly sends the message to victims and to perpetrators that sexual assault will not be tolerated in our communities. Vanderbilt will continue its work to combat the threat of sexual violence on our campus, and we appreciate our strong partnership with the Metro Nashville Police Department and Office of the District Attorney which helped deliver today’s verdict and, we hope, some measure of resolution for the victim.”
Batey was convicted again in April, The Tennessean newspaper reported.
Two other former players, Brandon Banks and Jaborian McKenzie, have been charged but are yet to face trial in the case. They have pleaded not guilty.
