Former Vanderbilt football player Corey Batey is now facing 15 years in prison after being convicted and sentenced in the gang rape of a fellow Vanderbilt student in 2013.
Batey, who was sentenced Friday, issued a heartfelt apology to his victim in the courtroom, in response to her compelling and emotional statement recounting her horrific experience. The apology was captured by The Tennessean.
You can watch it here.
The victim, a neuroscience major, was unconscious when Batey and three other football players gang-raped and urinated on her, then took photos of her lying face down in a dormitory hallway.
Batey also received a visit from television’s Dr. Phil, who taped his show at Nashville’s Davidson County Criminal Justice Center. The episode aired last Tuesday, before Batey received his sentence.
Batey told Dr. Phil that he “wished he could take it all back,” and that he wished “there was a button that I could delete everything.” He said he couldn’t remember his actions because he was drunk, a defense his lawyers raised at trial, but did little to mitigate the jury’s impression of Batey’s actions. He blamed his behavior on not having a father, telling Dr. Phil, “I would like to think I wouldn’t be in this position if he was alive.”
Batey also addressed his football teammates, claiming that the way he behaved on the night of the rape couldn’t be considered representative of their personalities. One football player who participated in the gang rape has also been convicted. Two others are awaiting trial.