Stanford put on defensive over assault prevention efforts

For breaking news in California, follow VeronicaRochaLA on Twitter. “She was half-naked”. Jonsson shouted at Turner, “What the f– are you doing?”

Johsson pursued Turner and grabbed him while Arndt rushed to the victim’s side.

The Los Angeles times reported that a retired federal prosecutor, Margaret M. Quinn, asked the judge to consider the long-term damage inflicted by Turner’s conviction: limited job opportunities and the requirement to register as a sex offender. “It’s still hard to think about”. He says Brock Turner ran away when the pair said the woman wasn’t moving, and his friend chased him down. The two graduate students testified in court.

The judge who sentenced Brock Turner to just six months in prison for raping an unconscious woman on the prestigious Stanford University campus has found himself at the centre of an angry online backlash campaign. But he’s expected to be released three months early, on September 2.

Brock Turner was convicted of assault with intent to commit rape of an intoxicated woman, sexually penetrating an intoxicated person with a foreign object, and sexually penetrating an unconscious person with a foreign object.

In his ruling, Persky, who also attended Stanford, cited Turner’s age, no “significant” prior legal problems and said he carried “less moral culpability” because he was drunk the night of the attack. Arndt said he wouldn’t comment publicly on the proceedings or outcome of the trial.

But a simple glance through Turner’s cell phone – filled with evidence of his drug use and underage drinking – revealed him as a regular substance abuser, and a liar, according to a sentencing memo.

Stanford University issued a statement Monday, calling it a “horrible incident” but defending how it handled the aftermath, saying it “did everything within its power to assure that justice was served”.

“Six months for someone who viciously attacked a woman, especially after she was so courageous to come forward, is outrageous”, Boxer said in a statement. “This is the harshest sanction that a university can impose on a student”.

“What the case highlighted was the importance of our training and prevention efforts, and those are continuing, particularly in terms of bystander intervention – “If you see something, do something about it” – and this case has been an excellent example for all of our students”, campus spokeswoman Lisa Lapin said.

It debilitates me to think that my actions have caused her emotional and physical stress that is completely unwarranted and unfair.

“Unfortunately, after reading the defendant’s statement, I am severely disappointed and feel that he has failed to exhibit honest remorse or responsibility for his conduct”.

In the letter, the victim addresses her attacker directly and pleads for a harsher punishment from the judge.

“Coming from a small town in OH, I had never really experienced celebrating or partying that involved alcohol”, he wrote.

The victim wrote: “His attorney constantly reminded the jury, the only one we can believe is Brock, because she doesn’t remember”.

“I remain anonymous, yes to protect my identity”. He wishes that he wasn’t good at swimming and that he didn’t have the chance to go to Stanford, so that the media wouldn’t want to write about him.