Two former Vanderbilt University football players were found guilty on Tuesday of gang-raping an unconscious woman back in 2013. The case provides a clear example of why the criminal justice system is better suited to handle such cases. A jury was able to convict the perpetrators quickly, whereas the university’s parallel investigation had been unable to make a strong enough case.
Though the case had been pending for 19 months, the trial took just 12 days and the jury deliberated for only three hours. The appeals process will definitely add to the length of time this case has taken to be resolved. But if there’s a case to be made about reforming the way sexual assaults are handled, it needs to lie within the justice system, not with universities.
The two convicted students, Brandon Vandenburg and Cory Batey, are facing at least 15 years in prison for aggravated rape, a Class A felony. And though one can argue that it took too long to bring the case to trial and the appeals process could take years, the fact remains that these men will no longer be on the street or able to assault other women.
Further, universities wouldn’t have been able to force the accused students to hand over their pictures and video they had taken of the incident. The victim reportedly didn’t even know she had been raped until she started hearing about the pictures and video. She had continued to date Vandenburg after the alleged incident because she didn’t believe she had been assaulted.
While the police were investigating the matter, the university did conclude its own investigation, which found insufficient evidence against Vandenburg to prove he had “non-consensual sexual intercourse” with the victim. This report was concluded after police had already charged four men (the other two still await trial) with rape.
Though activists continue to demand colleges and universities create an alternate court system to adjudicate sexual assault, the fact remains that, imperfect as it is, the American justice system is still best-equipped to handle this crime. In this case, men who committed a felony are going to jail, not being let loose on the streets with other potential victims.
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