A former Ohio University student convicted of rape has been sentenced to 11 years in state prison.
Athens County Court of Common Pleas Judge Patrick Lang sentenced Notay Jackson, 23, of Chicago, to the maximum sentence for rape, according to a news release from Athens County Prosecutor Keller Blackburn. Jackson’s defense attorney, Byron Potts, argued he should receive the minimum sentence, three years.
Jackson was convicted of anally raping a 20-year-old woman in July 2016. During the four-day trial, the prosecution presented DNA evidence and called witnesses, including the victim, her friends, police officers and health professionals.
The victim testified that she went to KeVon Powell’s residence with Jackson and a friend of hers after a night of drinking. She made out with Powell in a bedroom, and he began having sex with her but stopped after she told him to. While she was looking for her clothes in the dark, Jackson entered the room, flipped her onto her back and anally raped her.
Jackson testified that he fingered the woman at a bar earlier in the night and did not rape her at Powell’s residence. The woman said they had no contact at the bar. Potts argued that the DNA evidence from the woman’s rape kit was “inconclusive” and the jury should focus on whether they believed Jackson or the woman.
Blackburn thanked prosecutors Elizabeth Pepper and Glenn Jones for their work in the case.
“I am incredibly proud of the work Pepper and Jones did in this case,” Blackburn said in the news release. “They were a voice for the victim and ensured justice was served. I am lucky to have them on my staff.”
