Unbelievable As Ex-College Footballer Urged Teammates to Rape

Brandon Vandenburg, as Ex-College Footballer has been sentenced to 15 years imprisonment after he plied a woman with alcohol and served her up to three strangers

Brandon Vendenbourg

Brandon Vendenbourg, an Ex-College Footballer has been found guilty of 5 count charges of aggravated rape and sentenced to 15 years in prison by a court judge.

Brandon encouraged his friends to rape his long-time girlfriend after she fell unconscious from the alcohol given to her by Brandon.

Jurors took just over four hours to find Brandon Vandenburg guilty on five counts of aggravated rape, two counts of aggravated sexual battery, and one count of unlawful photography.

His mother cried as the verdict was read, and he too appeared to be crying as he was taken away.

The attack happened in a dorm room at Vanderbilt University in June 2013, but the 23-year-old's defence had argued that he was drunk and should not be held responsible for what players he didn't even know did to the woman.

Four former players were all charged in the case but only two were accused of raping and sexually assaulting the woman.

Assistant District Attorney Jan Norman said that he plied the woman with alcohol before he "served her up to three strangers - for whatever reason".

Prosecutors said he passed out condoms to the other players, recorded the rape and sent footage to friends as it was happening.

His defence said that Vandenburg was a newly-arrived recruit to the Nashville school and had asked teammates outside the dorm to help him carry the unconscious woman into his room, after he could not get her into her apartment.

Vandenburg's lawyers told jurors the other players were on the woman as soon as they got her in the room.

The trial featured graphic videos and photos that were taken from the players' mobile phones.

One defence lawyer said: "The videos are disturbing. They make you mad, they make you sad."

The victim, then a 21-year-old neuroscience student, said she had no memory of the event.

She said Vandenburg later told her she had gotten drunk and sick and he took care of her.

But police got involved after Vanderbilt officials contacted them when security camera footage at the school showed players carrying an unconscious woman in a dorm room.

Vandenburg and Cory Batey were convicted last year on multiple counts.

But the verdicts were thrown out after it was revealed a juror had not disclosed that he had been a victim of statutory rape.

Batey was convicted again in April. Both he and Vandenburg face a minimum sentence of 15 years in prison for aggravated rape with no possibility of parole.