Dan Turner, the father of convicted rapist Brock Turner, 21, referred to his son’s attempted raping of an unconscious girl behind a dumpster as “twenty minutes of action.”
Earlier this month, Turner was released from jail after serving only three months of his six-month sentence.
I am furious. Brock Turner received six months after being found guilty on three counts of felony sexual assault.
Judge Aaron Persky said he feared a longer sentence would have a “severe impact” on Turner. Disregarding the impact to the victim.
In the letter, Turner’s father wrote to Persky, he focused on how the event altered his son’s life.
His son lost his future, he didn’t smile anymore and he didn’t even enjoy his rib-eye steak.
Clearly, Mr. Turner didn’t consider the woman his son raped. He didn’t stop to think about how her own body became foreign.
She stopped eating, she didn’t smile anymore and she didn’t sleep.
Brock felt bad as a result of his own actions, his victim had no choice.
But Brock swam really fast and did really well in school, so society values his life more than hers.
News organizations still refer to Brock as the “former Stanford University swimmer.”
The word you’re looking for is rapist. We tear apart a rape victim’s life; we question what she wore, how much she drank and her sex habits. But when it comes to the rapist, we wonder who he could have become. We live in a culture that worries more about the promising swimmer’s career than the rape victim’s well-being.
Having too much to drink, wearing a tight skirt and being sexually active is not criminal.
Having sex with an intoxicated or unconscious person is. If they can’t consent, it’s rape.
Not only did Turner rape an unconscious woman, but he received a ridiculously lenient sentence.
Then, he got out of said sentence early. And he still hasn’t taken responsibility for his actions. Turner failed to make a statement where he doesn’t blame alcohol as the underlying cause for the rape. Statistically, Turner’s punishment was harsher than most rapists will ever see.
Approximately two out of three rape incidents go unreported, according to The Rape Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN). Not only this, but for every 1,000 instances of rape, only 13 cases will be referred to a prosecutor. Only 7 cases will actually lead to a felony conviction.
I will never understand why we place such little faith in men. Men are not stupid. They know right from wrong; they know the word “no.” A rapist chooses to ignore these things.
While all this may sound disheartening, I don’t want to mislead you. Sometimes there is justice. Sometimes rapists don’t get to walk away, but only if the victim reports the crime. If you are victim of sexual assault, please utilize the resources around you.
Mandy Hines is the USF St. Petersburg victim advocate. She is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. To contact Hines, call (727) 698- 2079 and identify yourself as a USFSP student.
Judge Persky requested to be reassigned to the civil division after a dozen jurors objected to serving in his courtroom and a successful motion also stopped him from presiding over another sexual assault case, according to the New York Times. Voice your outrage when judges refuse to sentence rapists appropriately.
Don’t stand by when someone needs help. If you are a survivor of sexual assault, you are not alone.
You say “Having too much to drink, wearing a tight skirt and being sexually active is not criminal. Having sex with an intoxicated or unconscious person is.” Turner was intoxicated too. Doesn’t that mean he is also a victim of a attempted sexual assault?
Your argument has no validity AIRPACS. Perhaps you should grab a dictionary and search the meaning of the word validity, because it would make more sense than your argument.
Considering that the woman was unconscious, I hardly think you could claim he was assaulted.
Airpracs, certainly men can also be sexually assaulted when intoxicated. However, in this case, it is undisputed that Turner was conscious and that he never said “no.” To the contrary, the woman was unconscious and therefore incapable of consent. He was the only active participant; she was, as noted above, unconscious. Add to that, she was physically violated and injured; he was not.