Stanford Rapist Brock Turner: ‘I Wish I Was Never Good at Swimming’

“Despite a unanimous guilty verdict, three felony convictions, the objections of 250 Stanford students, Jeff Rosen the district attorney for Santa Clara, as well as the deputy district attorney who likened Turner to “a predator searching for prey” Judge Persky allowed the lenient sentence suggested by the probation department”.

The uproar over the sentence, fueled in part by the victim’s harrowing letter in which she detailed the assault in graphic terms, is part of growing outrage over sexual assault on US college campuses.

In another case, Lee Carroll Brooker was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for growing marijuana in his backyard. The Associated Press does not generally identify victims of sexual abuse.

More than 745,000 people had signed an online petition Wednesday calling for the removal of the judge, even as the jurist began a fresh term on the bench Tuesday after running unopposed. Prosecutors were pushing for the judge to sentence Turner to six years in prison – though the maximum sentence could have been up to 14 years.

The victim also described how Turner’s lack of accountability had caused her added anguish, saying that he had “failed to exhibit honest remorse or responsibility for his conduct”. Stanford has faced criticism for its handling of sexual assault cases, and according to the Huffington Post, five federal investigations into the school are now underway – more than any other school in the country.

News of Rasmussen’s letter supporting Turner resulted in several venues canceling appearances by the band, the New York Times reports.

“I fixed the letter”, Ozeri wrote. “I was terrified of it, I didn’t know what had been in it, if it had been contaminated, who had touched it”, she said.

The victim, who is not a Stanford student, but a resident of nearby Palo Alto, was so intoxicated that she did not wake up until hours after the attack.

The Associated Press does not generally identify victims of sexual assault. “For now, I am every woman”.

In sentencing Turner, judge Aaron Persky said he did not think Turner’s failure to acknowledge he had committed an assault should count against him.

One of the students who stopped the attack told NBC News (http://nbcnews.to/1t6QKMZ ) that he and his friend saw Turner on top of the woman and knew something was wrong.

“Six months for someone who viciously attacked a woman especially after she was so courageous to come forward, is outrageous”, California Senator Barbara Boxer said in a statement. “My friend Peter ran after and caught him”. “I am a changed person”. But I never ever meant to intentionally hurt [redacted].

The university says it’s a national leader in prevention programs, student training on intervention and support for victims. It says more work must be done at the school and elsewhere “to create a culture that does not tolerate sexual violence in any form”.