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Stanford Swimmer Who Raped Unconscious Woman To Spend Just Six Months In Jail – Lenient Sentence To Avoid ‘Severe Impact On Him’

By Alap Naik Desai
Published on: 02:22 PST, Jun 4, 2016

Former Stanford University athlete Brock Allen Turner, who raped an unconscious woman, will have to spend just six months in a county jail, ruled a judge. Though prosecutors pushed for six years incarceration, the judge didn’t want the sentence to have a “severe impact on him”.

Brock Allen Turner, the former Stanford swimmer who was discovered raping an unconscious woman, won’t be spending a long time behind bars. The 20-year-old, who was found abusing the woman behind a dumpster on campus last year, has been sentenced to mere six months in county jail, followed by a short probation.

The jury had found Turner guilty of sexually penetrating an intoxicated and unconscious person with a foreign object. According to official records, after midnight, on January 18, 2015, Turner was seen by two witnesses. He was sexually assaulting the unconscious victim, who was lying on the ground behind a dumpster on Stanford campus.

When called out, Turner ran and was chased by the two Stanford students. The students, who were from Sweden, not only interrupted the assault, but held him away while shielding the woman. The students tackled him and held onto him till the police arrived.

Turner, who is 23-years-old now, was severely intoxicated on the day of the incident. Incidentally, the victim too, had a blood-alcohol level three times the legal limit at the time of the rape. According to court records, she had no recollection of the attack and seemed passed out. She did not regain conscious until hours later, reported The Cut.

The sentencing follows a trial and a jury’s verdict in late March. Turner was found guilty on all the three felony charges which included, “assault with intent to commit rape of an intoxicated/unconscious person, penetration of an intoxicated person, and penetration of an unconscious person.”

While prosecutors had fought for a much longer punishment for Turner, the judge said he considered the boy’s age and more specifically, his lack of criminal history, while considering the time the boy should spend in jail.

“A prison sentence would have a severe impact on him,” noted Judge Aaron Persky. Evidently, Persky, gave him six months to avoid being unnecessarily harsh on the boy, reported The Guardian. Having already spent some time in jail, Turner will be out in just a few weeks.

Incidentally, probation officials had recommended the significantly lighter penalty of six months in county jail, reported San Jose Mercury News. The website added that the prosecution felt Turner is “a continued threat to the community.” However, the probation authorities insist they have seen “hundreds of less remorseful defendants.” The officials stressed his “lack of a criminal record” and what they see as “genuine remorse.” Turner’s attorneys also urged the court and the jury to consider the Stanford student’s “record of real accomplishments.”

Turner won’t be jailed in a state prison, but will be held in a county prison, which is normally used for prisoners who have committed much less severe and petty crimes. Evidently disgusted by the court’s ruling, the District Attorney issued a press release which criticized the ruling by saying,

“The punishment does not fit the crime. The predatory offender has failed to take responsibility, failed to show remorse and failed to tell the truth. The sentence does not factor in the true seriousness of this sexual assault, or the victim’s ongoing trauma. Campus rape is no different than off-campus rape. Rape is rape. And I will prosecute it as such.”

It appears the internet is criticizing the light punishment, especially considering the heinous crime of rape.

[Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images]

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