Austin Wilkerson avoids prison for sexual assault of intoxicated woman, in case that echoes Stanford assault that sparked debate about privilege and rape culture

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

A University of Colorado student convicted of sexually assaulting an intoxicated woman will not have to serve a prison sentence, a judge ruled on Wednesday with a decision that has sparked outrage from victims’ advocates and closely resembles the case of Stanford swimmer Brock Turner.

A jury convicted Austin James Wilkerson, 22, of sexually assaulting a “helpless” woman on 15 March 2014 when prosecutors say he “isolated and raped the half-conscious victim” after he had told his friends at a St Patrick’s Day celebration that he was going to take care of her.

'Inspired by other survivors’: campus rape victim demands to be heard Read more

Wilkerson – who eventually admitted that he “digitally and orally penetrated” the woman while he “wasn’t getting much of a response from her” – was potentially facing four to 12 years in state prison for the felony offense.

The law, however, gives judges discretion to issue lighter sentences, and in Boulder County court on Wednesday, district judge Patrick Butler ruled that the former student should not serve any time in state prison. Instead, he ordered Wilkerson to serve two years of so-called “work release” and 20 years to life on probation.

That means that Wilkerson, who was suspended from the public university, will be able to work or go to school during the day and will have to return to a county jail at night while he serves his sentence.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Austin James Wilkerson. Photograph: Boulder Police

Prosecutors, who had urged the judge to send Wilkerson to prison, said they were disappointed with the decision.

“It does not satisfy our concerns about deterring one of the most prolific and impactful crimes of gender violence in our society,” Caryn Datz, Boulder county deputy district attorney, said in an interview. “In 2016, we still have a long way to go.”

On the day of the assault, Wilkerson made it appear as though he was trying to help the victim before he attacked her, according to prosecutors.

“He made certain his roommate saw him checking her pulse and temperature, and giving her water,” prosecutors wrote. After the assault of the woman, who was then a first-year student and is now 21 years old, “he sent a message to the victim’s friend who then thanked him for caring for the victim”.

Wilkerson later told a university investigator that he had made “repeated advances on the victim, but that she rebuffed him each time”, and that he felt “pissed off” and that she was a “fucking bitch”, according to prosecutors.

After initially denying the extent of the assault, he allegedly admitted to friends that he had “fingered a girl while passed out” and “let his hands wander”. Before the trial, he claimed to officials that the assault started consensually, but that she wasn’t very responsive while he penetrated her and ejaculated on her stomach.

Wilkerson, however, allegedly changed his story at trial, claiming that the victim was not inebriated and that she had engaged with him “passionately”, according to prosecutors.

“This defendant raped a helpless young woman ... tried to cover up his crime, and then repeatedly lied about what he did – including under oath,” prosecutors wrote.

The attack and the light sentencing echo the high-profile assault case at Stanford University in northern California, which launched an international debate about sexual violence on college campuses and rape culture in America.

Turner, who was convicted of multiple felonies, including assault with intent to rape an intoxicated woman, was sentenced to six months in county jail. Even though a jury determined that he had assaulted an unconscious woman by a dumpster after a fraternity party, Turner has continued to argue that the incident was consensual.

The Stanford victim’s powerful statement – which described the trauma of the trial and how painful it was to hear Turner blame the incident on alcohol and claim that she consented – quickly went viral in June. The judge who issued the lenient sentence is now facing an intense recall campaign.

Stanford sexual assault case: victim impact statement in full Read more

In court in Colorado, judge Butler said the sentencing decision was difficult for him, in comments similar to the remarks of Persky, who expressed sympathy for Turner.

“I’ve struggled, to be quite frank, with the idea of, ‘Do I put him in prison?’” Butler said, according to the local paper Daily Camera. “I don’t know that there is any great result for anybody. Mr Wilkerson deserves to be punished, but I think we all need to find out whether he truly can or cannot be rehabilitated.”

Unlike Turner, Wilkerson admitted to the attack in his statement before sentencing, saying, “I sexually assaulted (the victim) … No words I can say could ever take away the pain and fear that I have caused. Nothing I say can make it better, but I am so sorry.”

At the hearing, the victim talked about the consequences she suffered from the assault, according to the Daily Camera.

“When I’m not having nightmares about the rape, retaliation or a retrial gone awry, I’m having panic attacks,” she said. “Some days I can’t even get out of bed.”



In her plea for a prison sentence, she said: “Have as much mercy for the rapist as he did for me that night.”

After the hearing, Datz, the prosecutor said: “She’s an extraordinary individual. She is strong beyond words.”

In a sentencing memorandum, prosecutors cited the victim’s impact statement, which said her life was “ruined socially, psychologically, academically, and financially”.

Prosecutors wrote to the judge before his decision: “She does not call upon the Court for revenge or to cause the defendant suffering. She calls upon the Court for justice, which comes in the form of real and meaningful punishment for the conduct that the defendant chose and that caused her irreparable harm.”

The district attorney’s office also noted that at the university, which is the largest in Colorado, serves 13,000 women, and that 28% of them have reported being sexually assaulted during college.

Like the Turner case, Wilkerson’s supporters submitted letters on his behalf urging a light sentence. One said: “The most traumatic incident that Austin has faced is this sexual assault case.”

Lisa Saccomano, another deputy district attorney, lamented that privileged university students continue to avoid serious punishment.

“These young, college-age offenders who perpetrate rape on campus are getting some sort of privileged discount … compared to other violent offenders,” she said in an interview.

Saccomano said she had hoped the national attention surrounding sexual assault might have encouraged the judge to issue a more appropriate sentence.

“We’re not entirely surprised, but we’re certainly disappointed.”

Wilkerson’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.