Man sentenced to life in prison for violent sexual assault of University of South Carolina student

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) – A 41-year-old man was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on Thursday after being found guilty of sexually assaulting a University of South Carolina (USC) student.

According to a news release from the Fifth Circuit Solicitor’s Office, Robert Drayton, 41, broke into the victim’s apartment around 4 a.m. on April 28, 2021.

Officials said Drayton, who was a stranger to the victim, broke the woman’s nose and strangled her before sexually assaulting her.

An investigation by law enforcement found surveillance video from the victim’s apartment complex showing Drayton jumping a fence to enter her patio and then running away after the assault.

Based on that video, the solicitor’s office stated witnesses identified him through Crime Stoppers.

According to authorities, he was arrested while wearing the same shoes seen on the surveillance video that also matched shoe prints left at the scene. He also admitted to being the person captured on the surveillance video at the woman’s apartment complex.

“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 solicitor’s office said.

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