The Stanford University swimmer drew national notoriety after he was convicted of multiple felonies for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

Brock Turner, the American college athlete whose sexual assault case sparked international debates about campus violence, was released from jail on Friday after serving half of a six-month sentence, prompting protests by victims’ advocates and women’s rights groups.

The 21-year-old former Stanford University swimmer drew national notoriety after he was convicted of multiple felonies for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman outside a fraternity house on the elite campus in California.

Rape survivors and activists gathered outside a local courthouse in San Jose on Friday to criticize the short sentence as an insult to victims and to call for the removal of the judge who chose not to send Turner to state prison.

“This kind of unfair and unreasonable and unjustifiable sentencing is not going to be tolerated any longer,” said Jacqueline Lin, a 21-year-old student who says she was sexually assaulted while at Stanford.

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Turner, who was released early for good behavior, which is standard in California, did not comment as he rushed past a mob of news cameras and entered a car waiting for him.

On the night of 18 January 2015, two Swedish graduate students were biking by Stanford’s Kappa Alpha fraternity when they saw a man “thrusting” on top of a motionless woman next to a dumpster. The bystanders intervened and held Turner until police arrived and found the woman, then 22 years old, “completely unresponsive” and partially clothed.

In an unusual outcome for sexual assaults that occur on American college campuses, prosecutors filed criminal charges, and more than a year after the attack, a jury found Turner guilty of assault with intent to rape and sexually penetrating an intoxicated and unconscious person.

The Ohio native faced a maximum of 14 years in prison, and state statute prescribed a minimum of two years for his convictions.



Facebook Twitter Pinterest Brock Turner leaves the jail in San Jose, California. Photograph: Stephen Lam/Reuters

But California law allowed the judge, Aaron Persky, to make an exception if he deemed the case to be “unusual”, and he ultimately ordered a six-month county jail term for Turner on 2 June. Persky, who is also a former Stanford athlete, expressed sympathy for Turner, telling a crowded courtroom in Palo Alto that he had already suffered from the media attention and that there was “less moral culpability” because he was drunk at the time.

The survivor anonymously released a powerful 7,000-word statement, offering a graphic and disturbing account of the assault and the aftermath of a lengthy trial.

“The fact that Brock was a star athlete at a prestigious university should not be seen as an entitlement to leniency, but as an opportunity to send a strong cultural message that sexual assault is against the law regardless of social class,” she wrote.

The victim’s words rapidly spread online and made Turner and Persky globally reviled figures overnight. Outrage swelled after news broke that Turner’s father had called the attack “20 minutes of action” and that Turner had continued to claim that alcohol was to blame and that the encounter was consensual.

Michele Landis Dauber, a Stanford law professor and family friend of the victim, launched a formal campaign to recall Persky, and the judge’s past and ongoing cases have since faced intense scrutiny.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Cianne Anthony: ‘After reading the survivor’s letter, I was completely torn up and felt I had to help in some way.’ Photograph: Sam Levin/The Guardian

In the wake of repeated accusations that he has failed to treat violence against women seriously, Persky recently removed himself from criminal court, transferring to civil cases.

The case inspired new state legislation mandating prison for those found guilty of sexually assaulting unconscious victims, and survivors across the country have come forward to share similar accounts of trauma.

The recall campaign leaders and protesters, who carried signs saying “Protect survivors not rapists” and “Hold Persky accountable”, said they would continue the fight until the judge was removed from the bench entirely.

In her speech, Dauber, chair of the recall effort, called on the state attorney general to investigate Persky for his actions in another case in which he delayed sentencing of a young domestic violence offender so he could play football in Hawaii.

Kamilah Willingham, co-founder of Survivors Eradicating Rape Culture, said the short jail sentence for Turner had galvanized many survivors and their allies.

“There is now a national and international movement based on his lack of accountability,” said the 30-year-old activist, who was featured in The Hunting Ground documentary, telling her story of assault while at Harvard law school.

Persky is a part of the problem, she added. “If judges valued survivors more, maybe the Brock Turners of the world would as well.”

Persky, who has not responded to repeated requests for comment, recently launched a campaign to fight the recall, arguing that he is a strong advocate for “judicial independence” and that he has a “reputation for being fair to both sides”.

Stephanie Pham, co-founder of the Stanford Association of Students for Sexual Assault Prevention, said that more survivors are refusing to be silent and that she hopes their voices will help society recognize the seriousness of assault.

“Rape isn’t some regrettable act. Rape is a crime,” she said. “And the fact that that mentality is changing in some way right now is great, but it’s obviously not enough.”

Cianne Anthony, a 20-year-old student, brought a sign that read “How would you feel if it were your mother? Your sister? Would 3 months be enough?”

“After reading the survivor’s letter, I was completely torn up and felt I had to help in some way,” she said. “I hope people see the negative affects of victim-blaming and leniency.”

Sam Levin (@SamTLevin) At Brock Turner protest, Tim Lennon says the Catholic Church and Stanford have to take sexual assault seriously pic.twitter.com/zVZSjX3vxN

Tim Lennon, 69, said he was a survivor of sexual assault and that harsher punishments were a critical step to prevent further rapes.

“If institutions like the Catholic church or the university continue to gloss over and ignore and dismiss sexual assault, we’re never going to solve sexual assault.”

Lennon, who works with the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, added, “There’s an element of racism here. If this had been a black man … would he have gotten three months? It’s outrageous.”

Jessica Williams, a 35-year-old teaching assistant who carried a small sign that said “DON’T RAPE”, said she was sick of hearing about what victims were wearing or drinking and wanted to see more education focused on consent and accountability of perpetrators.

“Nobody is sending the message that you shouldn’t rape,” she said. “These types of crimes should be taken a lot more seriously than they were by Judge Persky.”