Former Vanderbilt football player Brandon Vandenburg was convicted of a 2013 rape of a female Vanderbilt student in January 2015, but the conviction was thrown out after a juror failed to disclose he was a victim of statutory rape.
On Saturday night, he was convicted again.
Vandenburg (pictured left, with former teammate and fellow rape convict Corey Batey) was found guilty of five counts of aggravated rape, two counts of aggravated sexual battery, and one count of unlawful photography. Those convictions should carry a sentence ranging from 15-to-25 years, but sentencing will not be decided until a later date.
Throughout the process Vandenburg’s process slid down a slope of denial and finger-pointing. First, he took care of the victim overnight after she had too much to drink. Then, she initiated consensual sex. Next, he watched as his teammates raped her.
“She got sexually assaulted right in front of me. And I didn’t do anything,” he said in an interview. “I should’ve called someone. They deserve to go to jail.”
Finally, the truth. Via The Tennessean:
Vandenburg carried her unconscious body into his room at Gillette Hall about 2:30 a.m. June 23, 2013, asking three teammates he ran into outside for help. They put her on the floor and at least two of them penetrated her with their fingers and one sat on her face, raising his middle finger for a photograph, according to trial testimony.
Vandenburg could not get an erection, so he watched pornography on his laptop.
He tried to wake up his roommate on the top bunk, saying “we have this b---- in here” and “we’re gonna f--- her.”
Vandenburg sent videos to four friends and destroyed condoms.
The man she trusted giggled and goaded his teammate, “squeeze that s---,” referring to a bottle in her anus.
Batey was found guilty in April. Jaborian “Tip” McKenzie and Brandon Banks are still awaiting trial for the same assault.
