Nashville authorities: 4 former Vanderbilt football players indicted on rape charges By Leslie Holland, CNN

(CNN) -- Four former Vanderbilt University
football players have been indicted on multiple
criminal counts in connection with the alleged
rape of a 21-year-old student in a campus
dormitory in June, according to authorities in
Tennessee.
Charged are Brandon Vandenburg, 20, of
Indio, California; Corey Batey, 19, of Nashville;
Brandon Banks, 19, of Brandywine, Maryland;
and Jaborian McKenzie, 19, of Woodville,
Mississippi, according to the Nashville
Metropolitan Police Department.
Police said each of the four men is charged
with five counts of aggravated rape and two
counts of aggravated sexual battery.
Vandenburg is also charged with one count of
tampering with evidence and one count of
unlawful photography.
The former Commodore players are charged
with raping an unconscious female inside
Vandenburg's dorm room on June 23. The
alleged rape happened in the Gillette House
dormitory, police said.
In a statement issued Friday the university said
"Our first thoughts are for the victim, a
Vanderbilt student, and we convey to her and
her family our deepest sympathies and sorrow.
We will continue to offer her all of our
services and support."
The incident first came to light when university
officials checking the dorm's hallway
surveillance recordings regarding an unrelated
situation observed unusual behavior by the
defendants, police said. That prompted a
notification to campus police on June 26. That
same day, Vanderbilt University Police called
Nashville police into the investigation.
Four days later the four men were dismissed
from the football team and suspended from
the university amid an investigation. The
university and city police announced the
dismissals but did not identify the players at
that time.
Friday's indictments come after what police
said was a nonstop investigation and "tedious
and painstaking work" by detectives over the
last six weeks.
Late Friday afternoon police officers arrested
Batey at his Nashville home. He was taken to
the hospital for a mandatory blood test before
being transported to Metro Jail, where he is
being held on $350,000 bond, according to
Public Information Officer Don Aaron.
Vandenburg, Banks and McKenzie were not in
custody Friday night, Aaron said.
The university said in its statement that its
highest priority is student safety and security,
and the university is focused on preventing any
future incident like this on campus.
"The charges brought today against the four
former Vanderbilt football players allege
conduct which is abhorrent and will never be
tolerated," the statement said.
An attorney identified in local media as Batey's
lawyer could not be reached Friday night. The
whereabouts of the other three could not be
determined, not could it be determined Friday
night whether they had retained attorneys.