Ex-Vanderbilt football players charged with rape, sexual battery

Four former Vanderbilt University football players were charged with rape and aggravated sexual battery Friday following a six-week investigation of an alleged assault of an unconscious 21-year-old student at a campus dormitory on June 23, according to the Nashville Police Department.

Tight end Brandon Vandenburg, 20, of Indio, Calif.; safety Cory Batey, 19, of Nashville; defensive back Brandon Banks, 19, of Brandywine, Md.; and receiver Jaborian McKenzie, 19, of Woodville, Miss., were each charged with five counts of aggravated rape and two counts of aggravated sexual battery.

According to Nashville police, the four men are charged with raping the unconscious woman inside Vandenburg's room at Gillette House dormitory early on June 23.

University officials checking the dorm's surveillance cameras in the hallways on an unrelated matter noticed what was described as the allegedly concerning behavior of the four men and notified the Vanderbilt University Police Department the night of June 25. Campus police contacted Nashville's sex crimes unit June 26.

Nashville Police Chief Steve Anderson credited Friday's indictment to the painstaking work of detectives from the sex crimes unit and an electronics expert from the department. Nashville detectives even traveled to Palm Desert, Calif., for several days in late July working with the Riverside Co. Sheriff's Office in California to collect evidence.

"Their investigation has uncovered compelling, unsettling evidence that was presented to the Davidson County Grand Jury earlier today," Anderson said in a statement.

Attorney Worrick Robinson said Batey has been taken into custody at his Nashville home. Police said Batey was taken to a hospital for mandatory blood testing before being taken to the Metro Jail with his bond set at $350,000. Police said they are making arrangements for the other three men to be taken into custody as well.

Vanderbilt dismissed the players June 29 and barred them from the campus pending the investigation. Vice chancellor Beth Fortune said Friday that their first thoughts are for the victim, a Vanderbilt student, and that the university will continue to offer her all of its services and support.

"We are shocked and saddened by the allegations that such an assault has taken place on our campus and that they include members of our football team," Fortune said in a statement.

Vanderbilt did not identify the four players until July 15 before the Commodores headed to Alabama for Southeastern Conference media days. The players already were listed in the team's media guide for the upcoming season but are no longer on the roster.

Al Jazeera and The Associated Press