Cory Batey, a former Vanderbilt University football player who raped an unconscious woman in 2013, was sentenced to 15 years in prison Friday. It was the minimum term possible for the crimes.
Judge Monte Watkins said he'd weighed thousands of cases and in each considers a sentence that was fair for the victim, the defendant and their families.
"It is one of the saddest cases that I have ever encountered," he said. "And I’ve been in the legal business for 32 years.
"All of the defendants in this case basically have life sentences," he said, saying each would be on the sex offender registry for life after being released from prison.
The victim spoke in the hearing about her own life sentence: The impact this crime has on her. She asked the judge to sentence Batey to the maximum 25 years. Her statement was broken up by sobs as the woman, now 24, tried to keep her composure.
She does not remember the rape and learned about what happened as the police investigation unfolded.
“I was fearful of giving a victim impact statement at all because I know that after three years and everything that has happened, I can never do it justice, and I’m scared of that failure,” the woman said. The Tennessean generally does not name victims of sexual assault.
“It will never be possible for anyone to put into words how this has affected me,” she said. “You will never understand what this has done to me if you aren’t standing in my shoes. The humiliation, the pain, the isolation, being reduced to nothing but a piece of flesh right before your eyes, it does something to you that is truly impossible to describe.”
Batey watched the woman, who he did not know at the time of the rape and has only seen in court since, as she spoke. Batey, 22, wore an orange jail uniform. He’s been in custody since his trial in April, when a jury found him guilty. He spoke, apologizing to his family who supported him, to Vanderbilt and to the woman.
"I hope that if not today maybe one day you would find it in your heart to forgive me for any damages I may have caused," he said, calling the rape an "unintentional tragedy."
Batey asked the judge for mercy in sentencing that would allow him to raise his 18-month-old son. His mother, who attended the trials, watched the sentencing in court surrounded by more than a dozen of Batey’s supporters. She spoke on his behalf, asking the judge to show mercy.
"I couldn’t believe it was my son," Audrey Batey said of learning about the allegations against her son. "I really couldn’t... Because I know how he care about people and I know that wasn’t Cory."
She said she talked to her son, who is from Nashville, and how every day he was at Vanderbilt. He'd come home and she'd wash his clothes on the weekends. She said the rape was “real out of character for Cory.”
Batey's lawyer, Worrick Robinson, asked if Audrey Batey would like to meet the victim and what she would tell her.
“That I’m sorry," Audrey Batey said. "It wasn’t my son, and will you forgive us.”
Batey was found guilty of aggravated rape, facilitation of aggravated rape, two counts of attempted aggravated rape and three counts of aggravated sexual battery.
Three other former football players were charged in the case. Brandon E. Banks and Jaborian "Tip" McKenzie have pleaded not guilty and are awaiting trial. Brandon Vandenburg, 23, was found guilty on all eight counts against him after a separate trial in June. He faces a prison term of 15 to 25 years for the convictions at a sentencing hearing Sept. 30.
