The Santa Clara Sheriff’s Department has finally released the mug shot of Brock Turner, the ex-Stanford University student who was convicted on three felony counts of sexual assault last week.
The mug shot was taken back when Turner was arrested in January of 2015.
It’s unclear why it took so long for authorities to make the mug shot public, but many news organizations had been clamoring for it ever since the Turner verdict and sentencing went viral.
Following a long trial, Turner was found guilty of sexual assault due to an incident that took place outside of a party early last year.
The former collegiate swimmer was caught in the act while digitally raping a 22-year old victim near a dumper, fleeing the scene when two students on bicycles drove by.
One of them sprinted after Turner and tackled him.
Despite the defense attorney’s claims that Turner had consent from his nearly-unconscious victim to perform various sexual acts on her, a jury found Turner guilty of sexual assault last Thursday.
A judge then had the option of sentencing Turner to 14 years in state prison… yet chose six months in county jail instead.
Turner may be released early for good behavior and was also sentenced to three years of probation; he will have to register as a sex offender for his assault on this unconscious woman.
After the sentencing was announced, the victim read a moving letter in court, addressing her assailant and all the damage his unspeakable act inflicted on her.
You can actually listen to a CNN anchor read the full statement on her program in the following video:
The case has stirred up controversy online, with many Internet users aghast over the light punishment.
They are also aghast over the response of Turner’s father, who released a statement of his own in which he argued for no jail time for his son, stating that this was an incident of “binge drinking and promiscuity.”
As opposed to rape.
Here is a look at Mr. Turner’s message. It states that his son ought to avoid harsh punishment for “20 minutes of action.”
A movement us now underway to recall Judge Aaron Persky, who also attended Stanford and who critics believe went far too easy on Turner, who was once an Olympic hopeful.
In its recall petition, Change.org writes that “Judge Persky failed to see that the fact that Brock Turner is a white male star athlete at a prestigious university does not entitle him to leniency.
“He also failed to send the message that sexual assault is against the law regardless of social class, race, gender or other factors.”
At our press time, over 228,000 people had signed this petition.
