A 41-year-old man was given a life sentence without parole Thursday for a 2021 case where he raped a young woman during a break-in at her Columbia apartment.
Robert Drayton, who represented himself at the four-day trial this week in state court at the Richland County courthouse, had stalked the woman and carried out a premeditated sexual assault, according to evidence at the trial.
During sentencing before a packed courtroom, Judge Heath Taylor said he was shocked at the crime’s brutality and told Drayton he had always wondered why burglary first degree — one of the crimes Drayton was convicted of — carried the possibility of a maximum life sentence.
Now, knowing the facts of this case, a life sentence “makes sense,” Taylor said.
Taylor gave Drayton a life sentence on the burglary first degree charge and 30-year sentences each for kidnapping and criminal sexual conduct. The jury had deliberated about 30 minutes before finding Drayton guilty on all three charges.
“Mr. Drayton, I don’t have the words for how depraved this crime was,” the judge said before pronouncing sentence. “I watched the (surveillance) video. It wasn’t nobody but you. It wasn’t even a close call. It was despicable what you did to that young lady that night. I don’t understand it.”
The judge continued, “You sought this young lady out. This was a plan. You didn’t just happenstance into her apartment and decide to sexually assault her. You made a plan… You’d been looking for her, following her. I don’t have the words.”
The judge also paid tribute to the victim, who had testified during the trial. He called her a brave young woman, “an impressive and strong young lady…. I’m sorry you went through this,” said Taylor.
A press release by 5th Circuit Solicitor Byron Gipson said that around 4 a.m. in late April, 2021, Drayton broke into the apartment of the victim, whom he did not know, and attacked her, breaking her nose and strangling her. He then sexually assaulted her. The victim finally fought her way out of the apartment and ran to safety.
“As law enforcement began investigating this brutal assault, they uncovered video surveillance from the victim’s apartment complex capturing the defendant jumping a fence to enter the victim’s patio area and then running from the scene of the crime. Based on that video surveillance, the defendant was developed as a suspect and a witness identified him as the individual seen by utilizing Crimestoppers,” the press release said.
“Upon arrest, the defendant was wearing the shoes seen on the video surveillance and matching shoe prints left at the scene. He ultimately admitted to being the individual seen on the surveillance video. Additionally, the defendant’s DNA was found in multiple places of the victim’s body corroborating the sexual assault that she endured at the hands of the defendant,” the press release said.
Drayton also “ultimately admitted to being the individual seen on the surveillance video,” the release said.
Prosecutors in the case were Anna Browder, Stephanie Taylor and Dale Scott. City of Columbia police investigated the case. DNA analysis was done by the State Law Enforcement Division.
The judge also referred to Drayton’s past record, which included convictions for sex offenses. ‘You’ve had every opportunity to rehabilitate your yourself, and it just never worked…. So, I don’t think you deserve to be among the rest of us.”
