Man pleads guilty to aggravated sexual battery of Columbus State student
A man took a negotiated plea deal and pleaded guilty to criminal charges including aggravated sexual battery in the September 2025 assault of a Columbus State University student, according to court documents.
Court documents say Hosni Batebawia, 20, pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated sexual battery, one count of criminal attempt to commit a felony, two counts of aggravated assault, one count of hijacking a motor vehicle and one count of theft by taking.
Batebawia faced the charges in connection with the Sept. 26, 2025, assault of a CSU student in a parking deck in downtown Columbus, according to testimony given at a Columbus Recorder’s Court hearing in October.
Jail and court records indicate Batebawia had been released from jail the day of the assault on previous charges he had been convicted of in a case from 2024.
Capt. Ashley Cook of the CSU Police Department testified the victim told investigators she was on the fourth floor of the parking deck and had put her bookbag in the front seat of her car when she was approached by a man asking for her phone number.
The victim said, “No, thank you,” and told the man she was 17, according to Cook. The man said, “It’s OK. I’m 20,” according to Cook.
The victim walked around the front of the car and got into the driver’s seat, but the man got in the doorway and stopped the victim from closing the door, Cook testified.
Cook said the man took the victim out of the vehicle, forcibly removed her clothes and sexually assaulted her. He also hit and choked her, according to Cook. Cook said the victim had visible bruising around her neck.
The victim screamed for help, and the man tried to force her into the trunk, but he was unable to because she went to dead weight, Cook said.
The victim said the man then got into her car and left, Cook testified.
Cook said the parking deck had surveillance video that corroborated the victim’s statements.
Batebawia admitted to hitting the victim, taking her vehicle and having sexual contact with her, Cook said.
The court documents say Batebawia’s plea deal included a sentence of 25 years to serve, followed by life on probation, for the aggravated sexual battery charge, and all other sentencing for his other charges will be served concurrently with the aggravated sexual battery charge.
Special conditions include “sex offender conditions + registry” and no contact with the victim, according to the document.