Alexandra Samuels

The University of Texas at Austin

The father of the former Stanford swim team member who was found guilty last Thursday of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman in 2015 said in a statement that his son shouldn’t be penalized for “20 minutes of action.”

Brock Allen Turner, 20, who was sentenced to six months in county jail, three years’ probation, and to register as a sex offender, was charged with assault with intent to commit rape of an intoxicated/unconscious person, penetration of an intoxicated person, and penetration of an unconscious person.

On Thursday -- and recently posted on Twitter -- a statement was read by Brock Turner's father, Dan Turner, that said his son “barely consumes any food and eats just to exist. … (Brock’s) life will never be the one that he dreamed about and worked so hard to achieve. That is a steep price to pay for 20 minutes of action out of his 20 plus years of life.”

Many have been outraged by the lenient sentence for the crime committed. The Washington Post reports that prosecutors wanted Turner’s sentence to last six years, but that Judge Aaron Persky said a tougher sentence would “have a severe impact on (Turner.)”

According to a statement by District Attorney Jeff Rosen, Brock Turner was seen by two witnesses “sexually assaulting the unconscious victim, who was laying on the ground behind a dumpster on Stanford campus. When they called out, Turner ran away. The two tackled him and held him until police officers arrived. Evidence showed that the victim was so heavily intoxicated that she did not regain consciousness until hours later.”

The letter from Dan Turner was posted to Twitter by Michele Dauber, a Stanford law professor. According to a press release from the school, she has been the university’s “most staunch and vocal advocate for sexual-assault reform for many years.”

Before Turner’s sentencing, the 23-years-old victim read an emotional letter in which she said the assault made her not “want (her) body anymore.”

Palo Alto Online reports that Turner plans to appeal his conviction. He will be represented by Dennis Riordan, a well-known San Francisco appellate attorney.



Alexandra Samuels is a student at The University of Texas at Austin and a USA TODAY College breaking news correspondent.

This story originally appeared on the USA TODAY College blog, a news source produced for college students by student journalists. The blog closed in September of 2017.