Austin Wilkerson, Former Boulder Student Convicted of Rape, Won’t Go to Prison

Boulder District Judge Patrick Butler sentenced 22-year-old Austin James Wilkerson to 20 years to life on probation, plus two years in the Boulder County Jail on a work release program that would allow him to leave the facility to attend work or class, and then return to jail in the evening.

The decision not to sentence Wilkerson to prison has sparked an angry reaction on social media, with users saying they are “utterly disgusted” at the ruling. “According to police reports Wilkerson admitted to making advances but the victim refused him each time, which angered Wilkerson and called her a ‘f**king b*tch”. Instead, he “isolated and raped the half-conscious victim”, prosecutors reportedly said.

Wilkerson countered on the stand saying that the victim was not drunk and that their sex was consensual.

He was said to have “digitally and orally penetrated” her after “not getting much response”. “I just wanted to make sure that the judge was aware that there would be treatment options available in the department of corrections”.

But he’ll be released on probation after District Judge Patrick Butler said he “struggled, to be quite frank, with the idea” of imprisoning him. Not only that, but according to a pre-sentencing memo submitted by prosecutors, Austin’s lawyers argued that the victim accused him of rape in an attempt to divert attention from her low grades in school, The Huffington Post reported.

The judge in that case, Aaron Persky, is subject of a recall campaign by those who say his leniency with Turner was unwarranted for his sexual assault of the unconscious victim behind a dumpster.

She told the court she still has nightmares about the rape and suffers from panic attacks.

During his trial testimony, Datz said Wilkerson indicated he had an expectation of sexual contact with the victim because he had taken her back to her house to take care of her. “It’s a serious crime that deserves a serious punishment”, she said. Instead of sending Wilkerson to prison, Butler focused on the length and severity of his probation.

Wilkerson was eventually convicted of sexual assault in May and faced a sentence of four to 12 years in prison, but received none. He will also be on probation for 20 years to life.

The victim, who addressed the court but left before Wilkerson’s sentencing, asked the judge to put her attacker behind bars. “Have as much mercy for the rapist as he did for me that night”, she pleaded.

Many men who commit sexual assault don’t just do it once – and when they don’t understand they’ve done something wrong, it’s especially unlikely that they’ll reform their behavior.

“It doesn’t surprise me, because as a district attorney, part of our job is to be a voice of the community, and our office is in the community all the time and we know how the community sees this issue”, Boulder District Attorney Stan Garnett said. I hope that if the day ever comes when one of these incredible women is relying on the justice system to deliver them the righteousness they so deserve they have a more competent judge than you. If I hadn’t been drunk, this wouldn’t have happened. She also said, “Although I did have to re-live the trauma multiple times, I would go through this process all over again”.