Skip to footer

Dad of ex-Stanford swimmer says son has paid price for rape

The father's letter was made public by a Stanford law professor who wants the case's judge removed from office over giving the swimmer a short sentence.

|
Jason Doiy/The Recorder via AP
This June 27, 2011, photo shows Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Aaron Persky, who drew criticism for sentencing former Stanford University swimmer Brock Turner to only six months in jail for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman. The swimmer's father, Dan Turner, ignited more outrage by writing in a letter to the judge that his son already has paid a steep price for "20 minutes of action." Dan Turner wrote that his son's conviction on three felony sexual assault charges has shattered the 20-year-old, who has lost his appetite. The letter was made public over the weekend by a Stanford law professor who wants Persky removed from office because of the sentence.
  • By Associated Press

| PALO ALTO, Calif.

The father of a former Stanford University swimmer who received six months in jail for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman ignited more outrage over the case by saying his son already has paid a steep price for "20 minutes of action."

Dan Turner said in a letter to the judge that the conviction of his son, Brock Turner, on three felony sexual assault charges has shattered the 20-year-old, who has lost his appetite and will never be his happy-go-lucky self again.

The letter was made public over the weekend by a Stanford law professor who wants Santa Clara Superior Court Judge Aaron Persky removed from office over the sentence.

The letter has inflamed critics already outraged that Persky sentenced Brock Turner to six months in county jail and three years' probation after the victim read an emotional statement in court.

Turner must also register as a convicted sex offender for the rest of his life.

"His life will never be the one that he dreamed about and worked so hard to achieve," the father wrote. "That is a steep price to pay for 20 minutes of action out of his 20 plus years of life."

A jury in March found Turner guilty of the January 2015 attack, which was interrupted by two students who saw him assaulting a partially clothed woman behind a dumpster on campus.

Turner tried to flee, but the students tackled him and held him down until police arrived.

The court statement from the victim, who was so intoxicated that she did not wake up until hours later, got widespread attention. Turner also was intoxicated.

"My independence, natural joy, gentleness, and steady lifestyle I had been enjoying became distorted beyond recognition. I became closed off, angry, self-deprecating, tired, irritable, empty," she said.

The Associated Press does not generally identify victims of sexual abuse or assault.

Others also want the judge removed from office. Two petitions on Change.org push for a recall of Persky, who's running unopposed for re-election Tuesday.

Opponents would need to collect nearly 81,000 signatures from registered county voters to force a recall vote of Persky.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to Dad of ex-Stanford swimmer says son has paid price for rape
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/USA-Update/2016/0606/Dad-of-ex-Stanford-swimmer-says-son-has-paid-price-for-rape
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe