Story highlights Mike Tyson was sentenced to 6 years for raping 18-year-old Desiree Washington.

Trump argued he should pay a fine rather than serving time.

(CNN) Three days after an Indiana jury convicted boxer Mike Tyson of rape, Donald Trump defended the heavyweight champ.

Tyson was found guilty of raping 18-year-old Desiree Washington, a Miss Black America contestant, in a hotel room. After the 1992 verdict, Trump argued that Tyson didn't necessarily deserve prison time.

"I'm totally opposed to obviously what happened. I'm a very strong believer in harsh punishment," Trump said. "But we think it's probably, in this particular case, a lot more good can be done by having Mike Tyson pay a substantial award both to the victim subject to court approval and creating a ward for people that were abused or raped in the state of Indiana."

The next week, in an interview with NBC News, Trump seemed to blame the victim.

Trump attends the "Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth" Broadway Opening Night on August 2, 2012.

"You have a young woman that was in his room, his hotel room late in the evening at her own will. You have a young woman who was seen dancing for the beauty contest [the next day], dancing with a big smile on her face, looked happy as could be," Trump said.

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