Ex-Stanford swimmer to serve 6 months in unconscious woman’s rape

Video: Stanford swimmer accused of on-campus rape

A former Stanford University swimmer was sentenced to six months in jail Thursday for sexually assaulting a drunken and unconscious woman he met at a party on campus last year.

Brock Allen Turner, 20, a part of Stanford’s high-powered swimming program, was facing up to 10 years in prison after his March conviction in Santa Clara County Superior Court of three counts of sexual assault.

Superior Court Judge Aaron Persky was comparatively lenient, sentencing him to six months in Santa Clara County jail after emotional pleas from Turner and the victim.

“The punishment does not fit the crime,” District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a statement after the hearing Thursday. “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.”

The case created a furor at Stanford, which had come under fire in the past for not taking campus rapes and sexual assaults seriously enough.

The crime happened around 1 a.m. on Jan. 18, 2015, when two graduate students riding bikes on Lomita Court came across Turner lying on top of a partially clothed unconscious woman in a field near the campus fraternity houses.

The older students tackled Turner, then a 19-year-old freshman, after he attempted to run, then called police. The woman, who was not a student, was treated at a hospital.

Stanford Men's Swimming head shot of Brock Turner, dated September 18, 2014. Stanford Men's Swimming head shot of Brock Turner, dated September 18, 2014. Photo: Casey Valentine, Stanfordphoto.com Photo: Casey Valentine, Stanfordphoto.com Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Ex-Stanford swimmer to serve 6 months in unconscious woman’s rape 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

Turner, who withdrew from school Jan. 27, 2015, told police after he was arrested that he had seven cans of beer that night and thought he was having consensual sex with the woman, who authorities said was “completely unresponsive” as she lay near a tree and a trash bin.

The woman, whose name was not released, later told investigators that she had four whiskey shots and two shots of vodka that night but couldn’t remember anything after talking to several men at a Kappa Alpha party, according to a police report.

A jury found Turner guilty of assault with intent to commit rape of an intoxicated/unconscious person, penetration of an intoxicated person, and penetration of an unconscious person.

“You took away my worth, my privacy, my energy, my time, my intimacy, my confidence, my own voice,” the victim told Turner at the sentencing hearing. “The damage is done. No one can undo it.”

Turner, who twice won state championships as a swimmer in high school in Dayton, Ohio, and participated in the 2012 U.S. Olympic trials, must register as a sex offender when he is released from jail, prosecutors said.

“Campus rape is no different than off-campus rape,” Rosen said. “Rape is rape.”

Peter Fimrite is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: pfimrite@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: pfimrite