On June 2, Brock Turner – a swimmer from Stanford University – was convicted of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman near a dumpster.
His sentence of just six months in jail, followed by three months of probation, was seen as a slap on the wrist to many. It has stirred up an Internet storm.
The judge ruled that a longer sentence would have done the 20-year old more harm than necessary, despite actions most believe to have been unconscionable.
There has been outrage on social media about the whole thing and now Turner’s father, Dan, has only added fuel to the fire. A lot of fuel to the fire.
In a statement, he compared his son’s assault on the woman to “20 minutes of action” for which his child should not be punished with any jail time.
Seriously.
This is a look at the statement in full:
This case has gone viral because the brave victim at the center of it stood in front of the judge last week and read a moving letter, directing her anger, pain, bitterness and shock to Turner and everyone in court.
In instances like this, you expect the parents to be releasing an apology for bringing the offender into this world… but it appears Brock’s father is just as deluded as him.
“His life will never be the one that he dreamed about and worked so hard to achieve,” Turner wrote.
“That is a steep price to pay for 20 minutes of action out of his 20-plus years of life.”
The whole thing is pretty disgusting.
He then went on to speak about how his son has lost his appetite nowadays. He also blamed the incident on “binge drinking” and “promiscuity.”
It’s truly disgusting all around.
As a quick refresher:
On January 18, 2015, two students found Brock on top of the unconscious woman. They even tackled him when he tried to flee.
Evidence pointed to Turner shoving his fingers inside the woman, along with pine needles and other objects.
His attorney tried to argue in court that the sex was consensual and that Turner asked for permission every step of the way.
But a jury saw right through this defense. They found him guilty on multiple counts of rape.
Yes, rape. Someone might want to explain what that term means to Mr. Turner.
