Amazing victim statement

Disambiguation · Jun 3, 2016

https://www.buzzfeed.com/katiejmbak...read-to-her-ra?utm_term=.ctQ8zlp3Z#.dfRMQAz1W
"You don't know me, but you have been inside me, and that's why we're here today."

Kilia · Jun 4, 2016

Disambiguation said: ↑

https://www.buzzfeed.com/katiejmbak...read-to-her-ra?utm_term=.ctQ8zlp3Z#.dfRMQAz1W
"You don't know me, but you have been inside me, and that's why we're here today."

I read this earlier today, Dis. Absolutely astounding!

fishypants · Jun 4, 2016

Here Is The Powerful Letter The Stanford Victim Read Aloud To Her Attacker

A former Stanford swimmer who sexually assaulted an unconscious woman was sentenced to six months in jail because a longer sentence would have “a severe impact on him,” according to a judge. At his sentencing Thursday, his victim read him a letter describing the “severe impact” the assault had on her.

Katie J.M. Baker
BuzzFeed News Reporter
posted on Jun. 3, 2016, at 9:17 p.m.

One night in January 2015, two Stanford University graduate students biking across campus spotted a freshman thrusting his body on top of an unconscious, half-naked woman behind a dumpster. This March, a California jury found the former student, 20-year-old Brock Allen Turner, guilty of three counts of sexual assault. Turner faced a maximum of 14 years in state prison. On Thursday, he was sentenced to six months in county jail and probation. The judge said he feared a longer sentence would have a “severe impact” on Turner, a champion swimmer who once aspired to compete in the Olympics — a point repeatedly brought up during the trial.
On Thursday, Turner’s victim addressed him directly, detailing the severe impact his actions had on her — from the night she learned she had been assaulted by a stranger while unconscious, to the grueling trial during which Turner’s attorneys argued that she had eagerly consented.
The woman, now 23, told BuzzFeed News she was disappointed with the “gentle” sentence and angry that Turner still denied sexually assaulting her.
“Even if the sentence is light, hopefully this will wake people up,” she said. “I want the judge to know that he ignited a tiny fire. If anything, this is a reason for all of us to speak even louder.”
She provided her statement, printed in full below, to BuzzFeed News.
Your Honor, if it is all right, for the majority of this statement I would like to address the defendant directly.
You don’t know me, but you’ve been inside me, and that’s why we’re here today.
On January 17th, 2015, it was a quiet Saturday night at home. My dad made some dinner and I sat at the table with my younger sister who was visiting for the weekend. I was working full time and it was approaching my bed time. I planned to stay at home by myself, watch some TV and read, while she went to a party with her friends. Then, I decided it was my only night with her, I had nothing better to do, so why not, there’s a dumb party ten minutes from my house, I would go, dance like a fool, and embarrass my younger sister. On the way there, I joked that undergrad guys would have braces. My sister teased me for wearing a beige cardigan to a frat party like a librarian. I called myself “big mama”, because I knew I’d be the oldest one there. I made silly faces, let my guard down, and drank liquor too fast not factoring in that my tolerance had significantly lowered since college.
The next thing I remember I was in a gurney in a hallway. I had dried blood and bandages on the backs of my hands and elbow. I thought maybe I had fallen and was in an admin office on campus. I was very calm and wondering where my sister was. A deputy explained I had been assaulted. I still remained calm, assured he was speaking to the wrong person. I knew no one at this party. When I was finally allowed to use the restroom, I pulled down the hospital pants they had given me, went to pull down my underwear, and felt nothing. I still remember the feeling of my hands touching my skin and grabbing nothing. I looked down and there was nothing. The thin piece of fabric, the only thing between my vagina and anything else, was missing and everything inside me was silenced. I still don’t have words for that feeling. In order to keep breathing, I thought maybe the policemen used scissors to cut them off for evidence.

I shuffled from room to room with a blanket wrapped around me, pine needles trailing behind me, I left a little pile in every room I sat in. I was asked to sign papers that said “Rape Victim” and I thought something has really happened. My clothes were confiscated and I stood naked while the nurses held a ruler to various abrasions on my body and photographed them. The three of us worked to comb the pine needles out of my hair, six hands to fill one paper bag. To calm me down, they said it’s just the flora and fauna, flora and fauna. I had multiple swabs inserted into my vagina and anus, needles for shots, pills, had a Nikon pointed right into my spread legs. I had long, pointed beaks inside me and had my vagina smeared with cold, blue paint to check for abrasions.Then, I felt pine needles scratching the back of my neck and started pulling them out my hair. I thought maybe, the pine needles had fallen from a tree onto my head. My brain was talking my gut into not collapsing. Because my gut was saying, help me, help me.
After a few hours of this, they let me shower. I stood there examining my body beneath the stream of water and decided, I don’t want my body anymore. I was terrified of it, I didn’t know what had been in it, if it had been contaminated, who had touched it. I wanted to take off my body like a jacket and leave it at the hospital with everything else.
On that morning, all that I was told was that I had been found behind a dumpster, potentially penetrated by a stranger, and that I should get retested for HIV because results don’t always show up immediately. But for now, I should go home and get back to my normal life. Imagine stepping back into the world with only that information. They gave me huge hugs and I walked out of the hospital into the parking lot wearing the new sweatshirt and sweatpants they provided me, as they had only allowed me to keep my necklace and shoes.
My sister picked me up, face wet from tears and contorted in anguish. Instinctively and immediately, I wanted to take away her pain. I smiled at her, I told her to look at me, I’m right here, I’m okay, everything’s okay, I’m right here. My hair is washed and clean, they gave me the strangest shampoo, calm down, and look at me. Look at these funny new sweatpants and sweatshirt, I look like a P.E. teacher, let’s go home, let’s eat something. She did not know that beneath my sweatsuit, I had scratches and bandages on my skin, my vagina was sore and had become a strange, dark color from all the prodding, my underwear was missing, and I felt too empty to continue to speak. That I was also afraid, that I was also devastated. That day we drove home and for hours in silence my younger sister held me.
My boyfriend did not know what happened, but called that day and said, “I was really worried about you last night, you scared me, did you make it home okay?” I was horrified. That’s when I learned I had called him that night in my blackout, left an incomprehensible voicemail, that we had also spoken on the phone, but I was slurring so heavily he was scared for me, that he repeatedly told me to go find [my sister]. Again, he asked me, “What happened last night? Did you make it home okay?” I said yes, and hung up to cry.
I was not ready to tell my boyfriend or parents that actually, I may have been raped behind a dumpster, but I don’t know by who or when or how. If I told them, I would see the fear on their faces, and mine would multiply by tenfold, so instead I pretended the whole thing wasn’t real.
I tried to push it out of my mind, but it was so heavy I didn’t talk, I didn’t eat, I didn’t sleep, I didn’t interact with anyone. After work, I would drive to a secluded place to scream. I didn’t talk, I didn’t eat, I didn’t sleep, I didn’t interact with anyone, and I became isolated from the ones I loved most. For over a week after the incident, I didn’t get any calls or updates about that night or what happened to me. The only symbol that proved that it hadn’t just been a bad dream, was the sweatshirt from the hospital in my drawer.
One day, I was at work, scrolling through the news on my phone, and came across an article. In it, I read and learned for the first time about how I was found unconscious, with my hair disheveled, long necklace wrapped around my neck, bra pulled out of my dress, dress pulled off over my shoulders and pulled up above my waist, that I was butt naked all the way down to my boots, legs spread apart, and had been penetrated by a foreign object by someone I did not recognize. This was how I learned what happened to me, sitting at my desk reading the news at work. I learned what happened to me the same time everyone else in the world learned what happened to me. That’s when the pine needles in my hair made sense, they didn’t fall from a tree. He had taken off my underwear, his fingers had been inside of me. I don’t even know this person. I still don’t know this person. When I read about me like this, I said, this can’t be me, this can’t be me. I could not digest or accept any of this information. I could not imagine my family having to read about this online. I kept reading. In the next paragraph, I read something that I will never forgive; I read that according to him, I liked it. I liked it. Again, I do not have words for these feelings.

And then, at the bottom of the article, after I learned about the graphic details of my own sexual assault, the article listed his swimming times. She was found breathing, unresponsive with her underwear six inches away from her bare stomach curled in fetal position. By the way, he’s really good at swimming. Throw in my mile time if that’s what we’re doing. I’m good at cooking, put that in there, I think the end is where you list your extracurriculars to cancel out all the sickening things that’ve happened.It’s like if you were to read an article where a car was hit, and found dented, in a ditch. But maybe the car enjoyed being hit. Maybe the other car didn’t mean to hit it, just bump it up a little bit. Cars get in accidents all the time, people aren’t always paying attention, can we really say who’s at fault.
The night the news came out I sat my parents down and told them that I had been assaulted, to not look at the news because it’s upsetting, just know that I’m okay, I’m right here, and I’m okay. But halfway through telling them, my mom had to hold me because I could no longer stand up.
The night after it happened, he said he didn’t know my name, said he wouldn’t be able to identify my face in a lineup, didn’t mention any dialogue between us, no words, only dancing and kissing. Dancing is a cute term; was it snapping fingers and twirling dancing, or just bodies grinding up against each other in a crowded room? I wonder if kissing was just faces sloppily pressed up against each other? When the detective asked if he had planned on taking me back to his dorm, he said no. When the detective asked how we ended up behind the dumpster, he said he didn’t know. He admitted to kissing other girls at that party, one of whom was my own sister who pushed him away. He admitted to wanting to hook up with someone. I was the wounded antelope of the herd, completely alone and vulnerable, physically unable to fend for myself, and he chose me. Sometimes I think, if I hadn’t gone, then this never would’ve happened. But then I realized, it would have happened, just to somebody else. You were about to enter four years of access to drunk girls and parties, and if this is the foot you started off on, then it is right you did not continue. The night after it happened, he said he thought I liked it because I rubbed his back. A back rub.
Never mentioned me voicing consent, never mentioned us even speaking, a back rub. One more time, in public news, I learned that my ass and vagina were completely exposed outside, my breasts had been groped, fingers had been jabbed inside me along with pine needles and debris, my bare skin and head had been rubbing against the ground behind a dumpster, while an erect freshman was humping my half naked, unconscious body. But I don’t remember, so how do I prove I didn’t like it.
I thought there’s no way this is going to trial; there were witnesses, there was dirt in my body, he ran but was caught. He’s going to settle, formally apologize, and we will both move on. Instead, I was told he hired a powerful attorney, expert witnesses, private investigators who were going to try and find details about my personal life to use against me, find loopholes in my story to invalidate me and my sister, in order to show that this sexual assault was in fact a misunderstanding. That he was going to go to any length to convince the world he had simply been confused.
I was not only told that I was assaulted, I was told that because I couldn’t remember, I technically could not prove it was unwanted. And that distorted me, damaged me, almost broke me. It is the saddest type of confusion to be told I was assaulted and nearly raped, blatantly out in the open, but we don’t know if it counts as assault yet. I had to fight for an entire year to make it clear that there was something wrong with this situation.

When I was told to be prepared in case we didn’t win, I said, I can’t prepare for that. He was guilty the minute I woke up. No one can talk me out of the hurt he caused me. Worst of all, I was warned, because he now knows you don’t remember, he is going to get to write the script. He can say whatever he wants and no one can contest it. I had no power, I had no voice, I was defenseless. My memory loss would be used against me. My testimony was weak, was incomplete, and I was made to believe that perhaps, I am not enough to win this. His attorney constantly reminded the jury, the only one we can believe is Brock, because she doesn’t remember. That helplessness was traumatizing.
Instead of taking time to heal, I was taking time to recall the night in excruciating detail, in order to prepare for the attorney’s questions that would be invasive, aggressive, and designed to steer me off course, to contradict myself, my sister, phrased in ways to manipulate my answers. Instead of his attorney saying, Did you notice any abrasions? He said, You didn’t notice any abrasions, right? This was a game of strategy, as if I could be tricked out of my own worth. The sexual assault had been so clear, but instead, here I was at the trial, answering questions like:
How old are you? How much do you weigh? What did you eat that day? Well what did you have for dinner? Who made dinner? Did you drink with dinner? No, not even water? When did you drink? How much did you drink? What container did you drink out of? Who gave you the drink? How much do you usually drink? Who dropped you off at this party? At what time? But where exactly? What were you wearing? Why were you going to this party? What’ d you do when you got there? Are you sure you did that? But what time did you do that? What does this text mean? Who were you texting? When did you urinate? Where did you urinate? With whom did you urinate outside? Was your phone on silent when your sister called? Do you remember silencing it? Really because on page 53 I’d like to point out that you said it was set to ring. Did you drink in college? You said you were a party animal? How many times did you black out? Did you party at frats? Are you serious with your boyfriend? Are you sexually active with him? When did you start dating? Would you ever cheat? Do you have a history of cheating? What do you mean when you said you wanted to reward him? Do you remember what time you woke up? Were you wearing your cardigan? What color was your cardigan? Do you remember any more from that night? No? Okay, well, we’ll let Brock fill it in.
I was pummeled with narrowed, pointed questions that dissected my personal life, love life, past life, family life, inane questions, accumulating trivial details to try and find an excuse for this guy who had me half naked before even bothering to ask for my name. After a physical assault, I was assaulted with questions designed to attack me, to say see, her facts don’t line up, she’s out of her mind, she’s practically an alcoholic, she probably wanted to hook up, he’s like an athlete right, they were both drunk, whatever, the hospital stuff she remembers is after the fact, why take it into account, Brock has a lot at stake so he’s having a really hard time right now.
And then it came time for him to testify and I learned what it meant to be revictimized. I want to remind you, the night after it happened he said he never planned to take me back to his dorm. He said he didn’t know why we were behind a dumpster. He got up to leave because he wasn’t feeling well when he was suddenly chased and attacked. Then he learned I could not remember.
So one year later, as predicted, a new dialogue emerged. Brock had a strange new story, almost sounded like a poorly written young adult novel with kissing and dancing and hand holding and lovingly tumbling onto the ground, and most importantly in this new story, there was suddenly consent. One year after the incident, he remembered, oh yeah, by the way she actually said yes, to everything, so.
He said he had asked if I wanted to dance. Apparently I said yes. He’d asked if I wanted to go to his dorm, I said yes. Then he asked if he could finger me and I said yes. Most guys don’t ask, can I finger you? Usually there’s a natural progression of things, unfolding consensually, not a Q and A. But apparently I granted full permission. He’s in the clear. Even in his story, I only said a total of three words, yes yes yes, before he had me half naked on the ground. Future reference, if you are confused about whether a girl can consent, see if she can speak an entire sentence. You couldn’t even do that. Just one coherent string of words. Where was the confusion? This is common sense, human decency.
According to him, the only reason we were on the ground was because I fell down. Note; if a girl falls down help her get back up. If she is too drunk to even walk and falls down, do not mount her, hump her, take off her underwear, and insert your hand inside her vagina. If a girl falls down help her up. If she is wearing a cardigan over her dress don’t take it off so that you can touch her breasts. Maybe she is cold, maybe that’s why she wore the cardigan.
Next in the story, two Swedes on bicycles approached you and you ran. When they tackled you why didn’t say, “Stop! Everything’s okay, go ask her, she’s right over there, she’ll tell you.” I mean you had just asked for my consent, right? I was awake, right? When the policeman arrived and interviewed the evil Swede who tackled you, he was crying so hard he couldn’t speak because of what he’d seen.
Your attorney has repeatedly pointed out, well we don’t know exactly when she became unconscious. And you’re right, maybe I was still fluttering my eyes and wasn’t completely limp yet. That was never the point. I was too drunk to speak English, too drunk to consent way before I was on the ground. I should have never been touched in the first place. Brock stated, “At no time did I see that she was not responding. If at any time I thought she was not responding, I would have stopped immediately.” Here’s the thing; if your plan was to stop only when I became unresponsive, then you still do not understand. You didn’t even stop when I was unconscious anyway! Someone else stopped you. Two guys on bikes noticed I wasn’t moving in the dark and had to tackle you. How did you not notice while on top of me?
You said, you would have stopped and gotten help. You say that, but I want you to explain how you would’ve helped me, step by step, walk me through this. I want to know, if those evil Swedes had not found me, how the night would have played out. I am asking you; Would you have pulled my underwear back on over my boots? Untangled the necklace wrapped around my neck? Closed my legs, covered me? Pick the pine needles from my hair? Asked if the abrasions on my neck and bottom hurt? Would you then go find a friend and say, Will you help me get her somewhere warm and soft? I don’t sleep when I think about the way it could have gone if the two guys had never come. What would have happened to me? That’s what you’ll never have a good answer for, that’s what you can’t explain even after a year.
On top of all this, he claimed that I orgasmed after one minute of digital penetration. The nurse said there had been abrasions, lacerations, and dirt in my genitalia. Was that before of after I came?
To sit under oath and inform all of us, that yes I wanted it, yes I permitted it, and that you are the true victim attacked by Swedes for reasons unknown to you is appalling, is demented, is selfish, is damaging. It is enough to be suffering. It is another thing to have someone ruthlessly working to diminish the gravity of validity of this suffering.
My family had to see pictures of my head strapped to a gurney full of pine needles, of my body in the dirt with my eyes closed, hair messed up, limbs bent, and dress hiked up. And even after that, my family had to listen to your attorney say the pictures were after the fact, we can dismiss them. To say, yes her nurse confirmed there was redness and abrasions inside her, significant trauma to her genitalia, but that’s what happens when you finger someone, and he’s already admitted to that. To listen to your attorney attempt to paint a picture of me, the face of girls gone wild, as if somehow that would make it so that I had this coming for me. To listen to him say I sounded drunk on the phone because I’m silly and that’s my goofy way of speaking. To point out that in the voicemail, I said I would reward my boyfriend and we all know what I was thinking. I assure you my rewards program is non transferable, especially to any nameless man that approaches me.

You are guilty. Twelve jurors convicted you guilty of three felony counts beyond reasonable doubt, that’s twelve votes per count, thirty six yeses confirming guilt, that’s one hundred percent, unanimous guilt. And I thought finally it is over, finally he will own up to what he did, truly apologize, we will both move on and get better. Then I read your statement.He has done irreversible damage to me and my family during the trial and we have sat silently, listening to him shape the evening. But in the end, his unsupported statements and his attorney’s twisted logic fooled no one. The truth won, the truth spoke for itself.
If you are hoping that one of my organs will implode from anger and I will die, I’m almost there. You are very close. This is not a story of another drunk college hookup with poor decision making. Assault is not an accident. Somehow, you still don’t get it. Somehow, you still sound confused. I will now read portions of the defendant’s statement and respond to them.
You said, Being drunk I just couldn’t make the best decisions and neither could she.
Alcohol is not an excuse. Is it a factor? Yes. But alcohol was not the one who stripped me, fingered me, had my head dragging against the ground, with me almost fully naked. Having too much to drink was an amateur mistake that I admit to, but it is not criminal. Everyone in this room has had a night where they have regretted drinking too much, or knows someone close to them who has had a night where they have regretted drinking too much. Regretting drinking is not the same as regretting sexual assault. We were both drunk, the difference is I did not take off your pants and underwear, touch you inappropriately, and run away. That’s the difference.
You said, If I wanted to get to know her, I should have asked for her number, rather than asking her to go back to my room.
I’m not mad because you didn’t ask for my number. Even if you did know me, I would not want be in this situation. My own boyfriend knows me, but if he asked to finger me behind a dumpster, I would slap him. No girl wants to be in this situation. Nobody. I don’t care if you know their phone number or not.
You said, I stupidly thought it was okay for me to do what everyone around me was doing, which was drinking. I was wrong.
Again, you were not wrong for drinking. Everyone around you was not sexually assaulting me. You were wrong for doing what nobody else was doing, which was pushing your erect dick in your pants against my naked, defenseless body concealed in a dark area, where partygoers could no longer see or protect me, and my own sister could not find me. Sipping fireball is not your crime. Peeling off and discarding my underwear like a candy wrapper to insert your finger into my body, is where you went wrong. Why am I still explaining this.
You said, During the trial I didn’t want to victimize her at all. That was just my attorney and his way of approaching the case.
Your attorney is not your scapegoat, he represents you. Did your attorney say some incredulously infuriating, degrading things? Absolutely. He said you had an erection, because it was cold.
You said, you are in the process of establishing a program for high school and college students in which you speak about your experience to “speak out against the college campus drinking culture and the sexual promiscuity that goes along with that.”
Campus drinking culture. That’s what we’re speaking out against? You think that’s what I’ve spent the past year fighting for? Not awareness about campus sexual assault, or rape, or learning to recognize consent. Campus drinking culture. Down with Jack Daniels. Down with Skyy Vodka. If you want talk to people about drinking go to an AA meeting. You realize, having a drinking problem is different than drinking and then forcefully trying to have sex with someone? Show men how to respect women, not how to drink less.
Drinking culture and the sexual promiscuity that goes along with that. Goes along with that, like a side effect, like fries on the side of your order. Where does promiscuity even come into play? I don’t see headlines that read, Brock Turner, Guilty of drinking too much and the sexual promiscuity that goes along with that. Campus Sexaul Assault. There’s your first powerpoint slide. Rest assured, if you fail to fix the topic of your talk, I will follow you to every school you go to and give a follow up presentation.
Lastly you said, I want to show people that one night of drinking can ruin a life.
A life, one life, yours, you forgot about mine. Let me rephrase for you, I want to show people that one night of drinking can ruin two lives. You and me. You are the cause, I am the effect. You have dragged me through this hell with you, dipped me back into that night again and again. You knocked down both our towers, I collapsed at the same time you did. If you think I was spared, came out unscathed, that today I ride off into sunset, while you suffer the greatest blow, you are mistaken. Nobody wins. We have all been devastated, we have all been trying to find some meaning in all of this suffering. Your damage was concrete; stripped of titles, degrees, enrollment. My damage was internal, unseen, I carry it with me. You took away my worth, my privacy, my energy, my time, my safety, my intimacy, my confidence, my own voice, until today.
See one thing we have in common is that we were both unable to get up in the morning. I am no stranger to suffering. You made me a victim. In newspapers my name was “unconscious intoxicated woman”, ten syllables, and nothing more than that. For a while, I believed that that was all I was. I had to force myself to relearn my real name, my identity. To relearn that this is not all that I am. That I am not just a drunk victim at a frat party found behind a dumpster, while you are the All American swimmer at a top university, innocent until proven guilty, with so much at stake. I am a human being who has been irreversibly hurt, my life was put on hold for over a year, waiting to figure out if I was worth something.
My independence, natural joy, gentleness, and steady lifestyle I had been enjoying became distorted beyond recognition. I became closed off, angry, self deprecating, tired, irritable, empty. The isolation at times was unbearable. You cannot give me back the life I had before that night either. While you worry about your shattered reputation, I refrigerated spoons every night so when I woke up, and my eyes were puffy from crying, I would hold the spoons to my eyes to lessen the swelling so that I could see. I showed up an hour late to work every morning, excused myself to cry in the stairwells, I can tell you all the best places in that building to cry where no one can hear you. The pain became so bad that I had to explain the private details to my boss to let her know why I was leaving. I needed time because continuing day to day was not possible. I used my savings to go as far away as I could possibly be. I did not return to work full time as I knew I’d have to take weeks off in the future for the hearing and trial, that were constantly being rescheduled. My life was put on hold for over a year, my structure had collapsed.
I can’t sleep alone at night without having a light on, like a five year old, because I have nightmares of being touched where I cannot wake up, I did this thing where I waited until the sun came up and I felt safe enough to sleep. For three months, I went to bed at six o’clock in the morning.
I used to pride myself on my independence, now I am afraid to go on walks in the evening, to attend social events with drinking among friends where I should be comfortable being. I have become a little barnacle always needing to be at someone’s side, to have my boyfriend standing next to me, sleeping beside me, protecting me. It is embarrassing how feeble I feel, how timidly I move through life, always guarded, ready to defend myself, ready to be angry.
You have no idea how hard I have worked to rebuild parts of me that are still weak. It took me eight months to even talk about what happened. I could no longer connect with friends, with everyone around me. I would scream at my boyfriend, my own family whenever they brought this up. You never let me forget what happened to me. At the of end of the hearing, the trial, I was too tired to speak. I would leave drained, silent. I would go home turn off my phone and for days I would not speak. You bought me a ticket to a planet where I lived by myself. Every time a new article come out, I lived with the paranoia that my entire hometown would find out and know me as the girl who got assaulted. I didn’t want anyone’s pity and am still learning to accept victim as part of my identity. You made my own hometown an uncomfortable place to be.
You cannot give me back my sleepless nights. The way I have broken down sobbing uncontrollably if I’m watching a movie and a woman is harmed, to say it lightly, this experience has expanded my empathy for other victims. I have lost weight from stress, when people would comment I told them I’ve been running a lot lately. There are times I did not want to be touched. I have to relearn that I am not fragile, I am capable, I am wholesome, not just livid and weak.
When I see my younger sister hurting, when she is unable to keep up in school, when she is deprived of joy, when she is not sleeping, when she is crying so hard on the phone she is barely breathing, telling me over and over again she is sorry for leaving me alone that night, sorry sorry sorry, when she feels more guilt than you, then I do not forgive you. That night I had called her to try and find her, but you found me first. Your attorney’s closing statement began, “[Her sister] said she was fine and who knows her better than her sister.” You tried to use my own sister against me? Your points of attack were so weak, so low, it was almost embarrassing. You do not touch her.
You should have never done this to me. Secondly, you should have never made me fight so long to tell you, you should have never done this to me. But here we are. The damage is done, no one can undo it. And now we both have a choice. We can let this destroy us, I can remain angry and hurt and you can be in denial, or we can face it head on, I accept the pain, you accept the punishment, and we move on.
Your life is not over, you have decades of years ahead to rewrite your story. The world is huge, it is so much bigger than Palo Alto and Stanford, and you will make a space for yourself in it where you can be useful and happy. But right now, you do not get to shrug your shoulders and be confused anymore. You do not get to pretend that there were no red flags. You have been convicted of violating me, intentionally, forcibly, sexually, with malicious intent, and all you can admit to is consuming alcohol. Do not talk about the sad way your life was upturned because alcohol made you do bad things. Figure out how to take responsibility for your own conduct.
Now to address the sentencing.When I read the probation officer’s report, I was in disbelief, consumed by anger which eventually quieted down to profound sadness. My statements have been slimmed down to distortion and taken out of context. I fought hard during this trial and will not have the outcome minimized by a probation officer who attempted to evaluate my current state and my wishes in a fifteen minute conversation, the majority of which was spent answering questions I had about the legal system. The context is also important. Brock had yet to issue a statement, and I had not read his remarks.
My life has been on hold for over a year, a year of anger, anguish and uncertainty, until a jury of my peers rendered a judgment that validated the injustices I had endured. Had Brock admitted guilt and remorse and offered to settle early on, I would have considered a lighter sentence, respecting his honesty, grateful to be able to move our lives forward. Instead he took the risk of going to trial, added insult to injury and forced me to relive the hurt as details about my personal life and sexual assault were brutally dissected before the public. He pushed me and my family through a year of inexplicable, unnecessary suffering, and should face the consequences of challenging his crime, of putting my pain into question, of making us wait so long for justice.
I told the probation officer I do not want Brock to rot away in prison. I did not say he does not deserve to be behind bars. The probation officer’s recommendation of a year or less in county jail is a soft timeout, a mockery of the seriousness of his assaults, an insult to me and all women. It gives the message that a stranger can be inside you without proper consent and he will receive less than what has been defined as the minimum sentence. Probation should be denied. I also told the probation officer that what I truly wanted was for Brock to get it, to understand and admit to his wrongdoing.
Unfortunately, after reading the defendant’s report, I am severely disappointed and feel that he has failed to exhibit sincere remorse or responsibility for his conduct. I fully respected his right to a trial, but even after twelve jurors unanimously convicted him guilty of three felonies, all he has admitted to doing is ingesting alcohol. Someone who cannot take full accountability for his actions does not deserve a mitigating sentence. It is deeply offensive that he would try and dilute rape with a suggestion of “promiscuity”. By definition rape is the absence of promiscuity, rape is the absence of consent, and it perturbs me deeply that he can’t even see that distinction.
The probation officer factored in that the defendant is youthful and has no prior convictions. In my opinion, he is old enough to know what he did was wrong. When you are eighteen in this country you can go to war. When you are nineteen, you are old enough to pay the consequences for attempting to rape someone. He is young, but he is old enough to know better.
As this is a first offence I can see where leniency would beckon. On the other hand, as a society, we cannot forgive everyone’s first sexual assault or digital rape. It doesn’t make sense. The seriousness of rape has to be communicated clearly, we should not create a culture that suggests we learn that rape is wrong through trial and error. The consequences of sexual assault needs to be severe enough that people feel enough fear to exercise good judgment even if they are drunk, severe enough to be preventative.
The probation officer weighed the fact that he has surrendered a hard earned swimming scholarship. How fast Brock swims does not lessen the severity of what happened to me, and should not lessen the severity of his punishment. If a first time offender from an underprivileged background was accused of three felonies and displayed no accountability for his actions other than drinking, what would his sentence be? The fact that Brock was an athlete at a private university should not be seen as an entitlement to leniency, but as an opportunity to send a message that sexual assault is against the law regardless of social class.
The Probation Officer has stated that this case, when compared to other crimes of similar nature, may be considered less serious due to the defendant’s level of intoxication. It felt serious. That’s all I’m going to say.
What has he done to demonstrate that he deserves a break? He has only apologized for drinking and has yet to define what he did to me as sexual assault, he has revictimized me continually, relentlessly. He has been found guilty of three serious felonies and it is time for him to accept the consequences of his actions. He will not be quietly excused.
He is a lifetime sex registrant. That doesn’t expire. Just like what he did to me doesn’t expire, doesn’t just go away after a set number of years. It stays with me, it’s part of my identity, it has forever changed the way I carry myself, the way I live the rest of my life.
To conclude, I want to say thank you. To everyone from the intern who made me oatmeal when I woke up at the hospital that morning, to the deputy who waited beside me, to the nurses who calmed me, to the detective who listened to me and never judged me, to my advocates who stood unwaveringly beside me, to my therapist who taught me to find courage in vulnerability, to my boss for being kind and understanding, to my incredible parents who teach me how to turn pain into strength, to my grandma who snuck chocolate into the courtroom throughout this to give to me, my friends who remind me how to be happy, to my boyfriend who is patient and loving, to my unconquerable sister who is the other half of my heart, to Alaleh, my idol, who fought tirelessly and never doubted me. Thank you to everyone involved in the trial for their time and attention. Thank you to girls across the nation that wrote cards to my DA to give to me, so many strangers who cared for me.
Most importantly, thank you to the two men who saved me, who I have yet to meet. I sleep with two bicycles that I drew taped above my bed to remind myself there are heroes in this story. That we are looking out for one another. To have known all of these people, to have felt their protection and love, is something I will never forget.
And finally, to girls everywhere, I am with you. On nights when you feel alone, I am with you. When people doubt you or dismiss you, I am with you. I fought everyday for you. So never stop fighting, I believe you. As the author Anne Lamott once wrote, “Lighthouses don’t go running all over an island looking for boats to save; they just stand there shining.” Although I can’t save every boat, I hope that by speaking today, you absorbed a small amount of light, a small knowing that you can’t be silenced, a small satisfaction that justice was served, a small assurance that we are getting somewhere, and a big, big knowing that you are important, unquestionably, you are untouchable, you are beautiful, you are to be valued, respected, undeniably, every minute of every day, you are powerful and nobody can take that away from you. To girls everywhere, I am with you. Thank you.

Katie Baker is a national reporter for BuzzFeed News and is based in New York.
Contact Katie J.M. Baker at katie.baker@buzzfeed.com.

fishypants · Jun 4, 2016

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...r-sexual-assault-brock-allen-turner-palo-alto

fishypants · Jun 6, 2016

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...ock-turner-sexual-assault-statement?CMP=fb_us

‘20 minutes of action’: father defends Stanford student son convicted of sexual assault
Court statement by father of Brock Turner adds to concern over ‘lenient’ six-month sentence he received for intent to rape an unconscious woman

brockity · Jun 6, 2016

Brock Turner For 2016 Olympics

31 March ·
In a tragic miscarriage of justice, Brock has been found guilty by some betas who probably never got any play in college. This sends the message that only men are capable of making decisions after they've had a few drinks, which belittles women everywhere. Everyone needs to be held accountable for their actions and it saddens us to see that the "justice" system gives one gender a free pass but holds the other gender totally accountable for both parties' actions. Hopefully, this patronizing verdict does not encourage more women to "be that girl," but unfortunately it probably will, just as long as they can get media attention and maybe a payout.
Go with God, Brock! We'll be voting for Trump in the hopes that he will fix things by giving you a well-deserved pardon.

https://www.facebook.com/Brockturnerfor2026lympics/

Brock oh Brock · Jun 6, 2016

brockity said: ↑

https://www.facebook.com/Brockturnerfor2026lympics/

The comments are scathing, someone wonders if it's a spoof page. The judge needs to see the comments by the BrockTurner Facebook member.
Slut
Promiscuous
What she was wearing
He was drunk so ....

Disambiguation · Jun 6, 2016

https://www.change.org/p/california-state-house-recall-judge-aaron-persky
Change.org has over 63,000 votes for recall

http://www.gavelbangers.com/judges/california/trial-level/persky/aaron?page=6#comment-6079
Review judge Persky here

http://cjp.ca.gov/res/docs/appendix/complaintform fillable.pdf
This is the complaint form for the State of California

Rules for a recall, you must be a California resident
https://ballotpedia.org/Laws_governing_recall_in_California

fishypants · Jun 6, 2016

Brock Turner For 2016 Olympics

3 hrs ·

The outpouring of love and supportive emails I continue to receive is amazing and reaffirms my faith in the good people of this country. We MUST continue to teach our girls about the dangers of binge drinking and promiscuity. Keep control of yourselves and don't dress like sluts and everything will be just fine.

Could well be a troll a/c of course.

The Wrong Guy · Jun 6, 2016

Brock Turner's actual booking photo from the night of his arrest | Boing Boing

Earlier today, the Santa Clara Sheriff's department released its mugshot of Brock Turner. Here, though, is the booking photo taken the night of this arrest and sent to us by Stanford University's Department of Public Safety, the arresting agency.

Brock Turner, 20, was taken into custody after raping a woman behind a dumpster on Stanford's Palo Alto campus on on January 18, 2015. Though convicted on multiple felony counts, with prosecutors asking for a 6-year custodial sentence, Turner was given only 6 months in jail. With good behavior, he could be out in weeks.

The lenient sentence (he will also spend 3 years on probation and must enroll on the sex offenders' registry) drew much criticism, as did authorities' apparent refusal to release booking photographs of Turner until today. Without access to the public record, most outlets (including Boing Boing) ran a yearbook photo that presented a clean-cut, smiling athlete.

Photographs can influence the public's appreciation of a case, and many criticize police and the media when poor or minority suspects are presented with booking photos, while suspects like Turner end up given the benefit of professional headshots.

Source:
https://boingboing.net/2016/06/06/brock-turners-actual-booking.html

anonsoldier · Jun 6, 2016

Fuck this piece of shit. I want 20 minutes of action with him and a baseball bat. Then I'd give his dad an hour for being an even bigger piece of shit. I don't hope that those six months in jail are the worst months of his life, I hope that they're just the beginning of the lifetime of suffering he endures as karma for what he did to this woman.

Disambiguation · Jun 6, 2016

Don't hold back now....

Disambiguation · Jun 6, 2016

The Facebook page is gone
https://www.facebook.com/Brockturnerfor2026lympics/

HappyHappyJoyJoy · Jun 7, 2016

I read most of the victims statement and was angry about her having to defend herself in such an obvious case. I found it outrageous to read the statement of the father.
But after reading some comments of internet lawyers calling for secondary crimes (raping or killing him), I think maybe the judge was right.
It does not help anybody to destroy another life - "eye for eye, tooth for tooth ..."? The time in prison is debatable (I think it is too short). A real punishment for the asshole _and_ help for the victim would be if he pays to the end of his life for her - if she agrees.

RightOn · Jun 7, 2016

Wonder if Br*ck will like c*ck?

Disambiguation · Jun 7, 2016

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...rd-rapist-brock-turner-finally-emerge-n586936
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/07/u...tatements-of-victim-and-attackers-father.html

Dear Dads: This is what rape culture looks like, and you're responsible
http://mashable.com/2016/06/06/brock-turner-dad-rape-culture/#iycPIG470uq3

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-.../california-rape-case-sentence-sparks-outrage
http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/06/us/sexual-assault-brock-turner-stanford/
https://www.yahoo.com/news/brock-turner-dad-stanford-rape-000000139.html
Ex-Stanford swimmer’s dad calls son’s 6-month sentence for sexual assault ‘a steep price to pay for 20 minutes of action’

fishypants · Jun 7, 2016

Follow

Michele Dauber‏@mldauber
#brockturner court probation report is fetid pond of victim-blaming rapeyness @thehuntinground @hodgman @brielarson

https://twitter.com/mldauber/status/739733922611789825

Letter in full:

See also: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry...ssault-conviction_us_5755de36e4b0b60682dea59c

http://nymag.com/thecut/2016/06/brock-turners-friend-pens-letter-of-support.html

World's most inadequate beard?

Sockofleas · Jun 8, 2016

Disambiguation said: ↑

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...rd-rapist-brock-turner-finally-emerge-n586936
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/07/u...tatements-of-victim-and-attackers-father.html

Dear Dads: This is what rape culture looks like, and you're responsible
http://mashable.com/2016/06/06/brock-turner-dad-rape-culture/#iycPIG470uq3

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-.../california-rape-case-sentence-sparks-outrage
http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/06/us/sexual-assault-brock-turner-stanford/
https://www.yahoo.com/news/brock-turner-dad-stanford-rape-000000139.html
Ex-Stanford swimmer’s dad calls son’s 6-month sentence for sexual assault ‘a steep price to pay for 20 minutes of action’

Ex-Stanford swimmer’s dad calls son’s 6-month sentence for sexual assault ‘a steep price to pay for 20 minutes of action

Would Turner Sr. think the sentence " a steep price to pay " if the victim had been his daughter?
Probably not, I rather think he'd be baying for the blood of the rapist instead.

JohnnyRUClear · Jun 8, 2016

I'm low on being bitched out lately, so: if she hadn't gotten so drunk, this never would have happened.

*assumes the position*

fishypants · Jun 8, 2016

JohnnyRUClear said: ↑

I'm low on being bitched out lately, so: if she hadn't gotten so drunk, this never would have happened.

What's your position on short skirts and high heels?

Disambiguation · Jun 8, 2016

What boys need to learn

I want my sons to read that, and I want them to understand what rape is and I want them to know, without a hint of doubt, that it is an unconscionable crime for which there is no excuse.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...sex-assault-letter-huppke-20160608-story.html

steep price to pay for 20 minutes of action out of his 20 plus years of life.”

Quote from enabling dad.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...-of-action-dad-defends-stanford-sex-offender/

But the worst parts of Dan’s letter are his grave mischaracterizations of rape as sex. “[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,” Dan writes, as if Brock should get special credit for not raping anyone during the first 19 years of his life.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_facto...s_why_his_victim_had_to_write_her_letter.html

The Wrong Guy · Jun 8, 2016

Stanford Rapist: Special Jail Protection To Prevent Inmate Beatdown | TMZ

Brock Allen Turner, the ex-Stanford swimmer convicted of rape, has been placed in protective custody while serving his sentence at Santa Clara County Jail, to keep him safe from inmates who might harm him.

We spoke to a rep for the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office, who confirmed to TMZ Sports, Turner is being held in an area away from the general inmate population, and will have a deputy escort whenever he moves around the grounds.

He will be exposed to other inmates, but only ones in "protective custody", which include people convicted of sexual assault, LGBT inmates and gang dropouts.

"They're kept totally separate ... so they aren't harmed."

We're told Turner's "protective custody" status is NOT due to the fact his case is so high-profile, but rather because he was convicted of sexual assault, and those type of inmates are often targeted.

Judge Aaron Persky sentenced Turner to 6 months in county jail for raping a 23-year-old woman on the Stanford campus in 2015, but with good behavior he could be out by September.

Source:
https://www.tmz.com/2016/06/08/brock-allen-turner-stanford-rape-case/

The Wrong Guy · Jun 8, 2016

Stanford rapist Brock Turner: “I've been shattered by the party culture”

By Xeni Jardin, Boing Boing

Quote:

In a pre-sentencing letter to the judge released today by the New York Times, convicted rapist Brock Turner fails to own any responsibility for raping an unconscious woman behind a trash dumpster on Jan. 17, 2015. Turner's plea letter reads like a laundry list of white male privilege lost. It touched the white male judge in all the right places. Turner begs for leniency in his letter, and he got it.

“I’ve been shattered by the party culture and risk taking behavior that I briefly experienced in my four months at school,” writes the former Stanford University student. “I’ve lost my chance to swim in the Olympics.”

Turner blames the sexual assault he committed on a campus culture of excessive alcohol consumption, peer pressure, and “sexual promiscuity.”

There's no way Brock Allan Turner -- oh by the way, did you see his swimming times? -- could have raped a woman because he's a fucking rapist.

In a letter to Judge Aaron Persky of the Santa Clara County Superior Court which was submitted before his ridiculously wrist-slap of a sentence, Turner says: “I am the sole proprietor of what happened on the night that changed these people’s lives forever. I would give anything to change what happened.”

The New York Times published a copy of his letter today. In it, Turner also says that his decision to rape an unconscious woman behind a trash dumpster on the Stanford campus left him “a changed person.” I'll bet! It changed the woman he raped, too.

Here, let Brock Turner tell you more about what he has lost by raping that anonymous woman.

“I’ve lost my ability to obtain a Stanford degree. I’ve lost employment opportunities, my reputation and most of all, my life.”

That's right. Because he raped an unconscious woman behind a dumpster, he literally lost his life.

“These things force me to never want to put myself in a position where I have to sacrifice everything,” the rapist continued.

“I would make it my life’s mission to show everyone that I can contribute and be a positive influence on society from these events that have transpired. I will never put myself through an event where it will give someone the ability to question whether I really can be a betterment to society. I want no one, male or female, to have to experience the destructive consequences of making decisions while under the influence of alcohol. I want to be a voice of reason in a time where people’s attitudes and preconceived notions about partying and drinking have already been established.”

What is the moral of Brock Turner's rape-to-redemption story?

“I want to let young people know, as I did not, that things can go from fun to ruined in just one evening.”

In addition to his six-month jail sentence, which is insanely lenient compared to the 14-year maximum, Turner will serve three years’ probation and must register as a sex offender.

Get your tiniest violin ready to play the saddest song in the universe, because he also lost his swimming scholarship to Stanford, and the university banned him from ever stepping foot on the campus again.

That punishment was "a steep price to pay for 20 minutes of action," according to Brock Turner's dad.
“In Stanford Rape Case, Brock Turner Blamed Drinking and Promiscuity” [Liam Stack, New York Times]

Want to get even more pissed off? Stanford had one rape every two weeks before Brock Turner was caught on Jan. 17, 2015.

Continued here:
https://boingboing.net/2016/06/08/stanford-rapist-brock-turner.html

Sockofleas · Jun 9, 2016

That punishment was "a steep price to pay for 20 minutes of action," according to Brock Turner's dad.

Turner Snr doesn't appear to understand how damaging his remarks actually are to himself ; considering the seriousness of his son's offense.

Neither father nor son have shown any visible sign of owning a moral compass.

Nfjhhvjkk · Jun 9, 2016

JohnnyRUClear said: ↑

I'm low on being bitched out lately, so: if she hadn't gotten so drunk, this never would have happened.

*

To her

Farcebook · Jun 9, 2016

"A family friend set up a Facebook page in early May, which has since been deleted but can still be seen in an online cache, asking supporters to help Turner’s parents, Dan and Carleen.

“As a lifelong friend, mother and person who has watched this family grow, I am reaching out to you on behalf of Dan Turner and Carleen Bradfield Turner,” wrote Joni Magnus-Ramsey. “They are dealing with a monumental life-changing and tragic situation with Brock and their expenses continue to mount. As a mother and friend, I would do anything to help my child and save him.”

The Wrong Guy · Jun 9, 2016

Salon has published a number of good articles about all this:

https://www.salon.com/topic/brock_turner/

BLiP · Jun 9, 2016

Commit a rape - get three months jail --> https://mic.com/articles/145796/bro...-month-sentence-for-sexual-assault#.8OvPprIib

pillowcase · Jun 9, 2016

Scathing Letter to Father of Stanford Sex Offender Brock Turner Goes Viral

By MORGAN WINSOR

Jun 9, 2016, 1:48 PM ET

Dan Turner’s words outraged many people across the nation, including John Pavlovitz, a pastor, blogger and father in Wake Forest, North Carolina. In a blog post titled “To Brock Turner’s Father, From Another Father,” Pavlovitz writes that “there is no scenario where your son should be the sympathetic figure here.”

“I need you to understand something, and I say this as a father who dearly loves my son as much as you must love yours. Brock is not the victim here. His victim is the victim. She is the wounded one. He is the damager,” Pavlovitz wrote in the blog post. “This young woman will be dealing with this for far longer than the embarrassingly short six months your son is being penalized. She will endure the unthinkable trauma of his ‘20 minutes of action’ for the duration of her lifetime, and the fact that you seem unaware of this fact is exactly why we have a problem.”

His blog has been flooded with readers. Pavlovitz wrote on Twitter on Wednesday that the “site is overwhelmed” and asked visitors to “keep refreshing if you get errors.”

In a statement issued Tuesday to CNN, Dan Turner said people had misinterpreted the phrase "20 minutes of action." "What I meant with that comment is a 20-minute period of time. I was not referring to sexual activity by the word 'action.' It was an unfortunate choice of words, and I did not mean to be disrespectful or offensive to anyone," Dan Turner said.

He could not be immediately reached by ABC News for comment in response to Pavlovitz's letter.
Pavlovitz said he doesn’t think Brock Turner is a “monster” but believes he still must face the consequences because “he acted like one.”

“Brock has to register as a sex offender because he sexually assaulted an incapacitated young woman. This is why we have such requirements; because one vile act against another human being is one too many,” he wrote. “It feels like you want more sympathy and goodwill toward your son than you want for the survivor of his crime, and that’s simply not good enough for her or for those young men and women watching.”

A little bit moar here: http://abcnews.go.com/US/scathing-letter-father-stanford-sex-offender-brock-turner/story?id=39723664

RavenEyes · Jun 9, 2016

Vice-President Joe Biden's Open Letter to Stanford's Amazing Victim

An Open Letter to a Courageous Young Woman
"I do not know your name — but your words are forever seared on my soul. Words that should be required reading for men and women of all ages.

Words that I wish with all of my heart you never had to write. I am in awe of your courage for speaking out — for so clearly naming the wrongs that were done to you and so passionately asserting your equal claim to human dignity.

And I am filled with furious anger — both that this happened to you and that our culture is still so broken that you were ever put in the position of defending your own worth. It must have been wrenching — to relive what he did to you all over again. But you did it anyway, in the hope that your strength might prevent this crime from happening to someone else. Your bravery is breathtaking.

You are a warrior — with a solid steel spine. I do not know your name — but I know that a lot of people failed you that terrible January night and in the months that followed.

Anyone at that party who saw that you were incapacitated yet looked the other way and did not offer assistance.
Anyone who dismissed what happened to you as “just another crazy night.”Anyone who asked “what did you expect would happen when you drank that much?” or thought you must have brought it on yourself. You were failed by a culture on our college campuses where one in five women is sexually assaulted — year after year after year. A culture that promotes passivity. That encourages young men and women on campuses to simply turn a blind eye. The statistics on college sexual assault haven’t gone down in the past two decades. It’s obscene, and it’s a failure that lies at all our feet.

And you were failed by anyone who dared to question this one clear and simple truth: Sex without consent is rape. Period. It is a crime.

I do not know your name — but thanks to you, I know that heroes ride bicycles. Those two men who saw what was happening to you — who took it upon themselves to step in — they did what they instinctually knew to be
They did not say “It’s none of my business.” They did not worry about the social or safety implications of intervening, or about what their peers might think. Those two men epitomize what it means to be a responsible bystander. To do otherwise — to see an assault about to take place and do nothing to intervene — makes you part of the problem. Like I tell college students all over this country — it’s on us. All of us. We all have a responsibility to stop the scourge of violence against women once and for all.

I do not know your name — but I see your unconquerable spirit. I see the limitless potential of an incredibly talented young woman — full of possibility. I see the shoulders on which our dreams for the future rest.

I see you.

You will never be defined by what the defendant’s father callously termed “20 minutes of action.”

His son will be.

I join your global chorus of supporters, because we can never say enough to survivors: I believe you. It is not your fault. What you endured is never, never, never, NEVER a woman’s fault.

And while the justice system has spoken in your particular case, the nation is not satisfied. And that is why we will continue to speak out.

We will speak to change the culture on our college campuses — a culture that continues to ask the wrong questions: What were you wearing? Why were you there? What did you say? How much did you drink?
Instead of asking: Why did he think he had license to rape?

We will speak out against those who seek to engage in plausible deniability. Those who know that this is happening, but don’t want to get involved. Who believe that this ugly crime is “complicated.”

We will speak of you — you who remain anonymous not only to protect your identity, but because you so eloquently represent “every woman.”

We will make lighthouses of ourselves, as you did — and shine.

Your story has already changed lives. You have helped change the culture. You have shaken untold thousands out of the torpor and indifference towards sexual violence that allows this problem to continue. Your words will help people you have never met and never will. You have given them the strength they need to fight. And so, I believe, you will save lives.

I do not know your name — but I will never forget you. The millions who have been touched by your story will never forget you.

And if everyone who shared your letter on social media, or who had a private conversation in their own homes with their daughters and sons, draws upon the passion, the outrage, and the commitment they feel right now the next time there is a choice between intervening and walking away — then I believe you will have helped to change the world for the better."

https://www.buzzfeed.com/tomnamako/...nford-survivor?utm_term=.eemkqOylG#.ta65G7olP

JohnnyRUClear · Jun 11, 2016

Politicians. Bleah.

Still... good letter,

The Wrong Guy · Jun 12, 2016

Brock Turner's claims to judge contradicted in new documents | LA Times

Judge Aaron Persky said he took Brock Turner “at his word” last week when he sentenced the onetime Stanford University swimming star on charges that he sexually assaulted a woman on campus.

Turner said he thought he was having consensual sex with the victim, even though she was unconscious when he was caught on top of her behind a dumpster.

Judge Persky also seemed to believe the larger narrative Turner put forward during that trial: A 19-year-old freshman from small-town Ohio, naive about drinking and partying, looked to his swim teammates for guidance in a wild new social realm and made one quick bad decision.

But 471 pages of documents released by the Santa Clara County Superior Court show Turner lied about never using drugs and not drinking before college. And they depict Turner as not simply making a bad choice, but having a penchant of making aggressive, unwanted advances on women; at the frat party where he met the victim, he kept forcing kisses on the victim’s younger sister as she “wiggled out of his hold.” At a party a week before, he “creeped out” a woman he tried to grab.

Prosecutors, who were asking for a sentence of six years in prison at the hearing last Thursday, wrote that his “behavior is not typical assaultive behavior that you find on campus, but it is more akin to a predator who is searching for prey.”

Apparently unswayed, Persky sentenced Turner to what will probably amount to three months in jail, and promptly found himself in a firestorm of outrage.

A Stanford law professor has launched an effort to recall Persky, and nearly a million people have signed an online petition calling on the California Commission for Judicial Performance to remove him.

Continued here:
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-stanford-attack-20160610-snap-story.html

Movement To Recall Stanford Rape Judge Aaron Persky Adds Three New Consultants | Inquisitr

Public outcry in the Stanford rape case has already sparked the creation of several petitions for an impeachment hearing against the judge who handed down a sentence of only six months in jail. While the success of those petitions are the result of a grassroots movement by everyday citizens, the Recall Judge Aaron Persky campaign is amping up their protest by adding three professional political consultants to their team to keep the signatures coming in and get the votes needed to send Persky packing.

Media consultant Joe Trippi, pollster Paul Maslin, and campaign strategist John Shallman boast impressive resumes, including Trippi’s previous work for Democratic presidential candidates, Maslin’s work with California Gov. Jerry Brown and members of Congress, and Shallman’s previous work with the California Senate on the “yes means yes” law in California, requiring college campuses to address the issues regarding consent on campuses.

After the conviction of former Stanford University swimmer Brock Turner, the sentencing and the remarks made by Judge Persky in his ruling have prompted over 1 million signatures on a Change.org petition and another 200,000 on a MoveOn.org petition calling for his removal from the bench, according to Vanity Fair. A White House petition has exceeded the 100,000 signatures required to prompt a response from the Oval Office, as well.

Continued here:
http://www.inquisitr.com/3195836/mo...udge-aaron-persky-adds-three-new-consultants/

'Protect survivors, not rapists': Students and protesters to decry Stanford rape sentence at the university's graduation ceremony

Students and rights advocates plan demonstration at Stanford's graduation

Women's advocacy group UltraViolet submitted more than 800,000 signatures calling for Judge Aaron Persky's removal

Persky sentenced former Stanford student-athlete, Brock Turner, 20, to six months in jail for raping a 23-year-old woman while she was unconscious

Turner is set to be released in September after completing three months

Group said plane will carry banner reading 'Protect Survivors. Not Rapists. #PerskyMustGo' over university's stadium ahead of commencement

Continued here:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...entence-university-s-graduation-ceremony.html

The Wrong Guy · Jun 15, 2016

Stanford Women Swim Team Suspicious of Brock Turner For a Long Time (EXCLUSIVE) | In Touch Weekly

http://www.intouchweekly.com/posts/brock-turner-stanford-women-s-swim-team-105204

REVEALED: Stanford women's swim team 'vowed never to be alone with rapist Brock Turner because of his lewd behavior but were pressured by university not to write letter to judge'

Female swimmers claim Turner would comment on their appearances

He allegedly said to one athlete: ''I can see your t***s in that swimsuit

The Ohio native's behavior allegedly forced one swimmer to stay away

Team members then discussed writing to the judge about his antics

But one swimmer claims they were pressured not to by Stanford officials

University has denied allegations, adding students can 'say what they wish'

Turner received a six-month jail sentence for raping an unconscious woman

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ge-pressured-university-officials-not-to.html

The Wrong Guy · Aug 30, 2016

Remember Brock Turner? From 3 Months Ago? He'll Leave Jail On Friday.

Excerpt:

Over one million people signed a petition calling for Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Aaron Persky ― who presided over Turner’s case ― to be removed from the bench over the lenient sentence. Activists and celebrities held fundraisers to galvanize the public to support their efforts. In August, Persky finally quit criminal court and will now only preside over civil court trials.

In response to Persky’s light sentence, California lawmakers recently passed legislation that would make jail time mandatory in cases like Turner’s. Under the provisions of this new legislation, Turner would have faced a minimum of three years in jail.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry...ve-jail-on-friday_us_57c58c81e4b0cdfc5ac9256b

The Wrong Guy · Sep 2, 2016

Ex-Stanford swimmer leaves jail after serving half his term | Associated Press

Excerpt:

California jail inmates with good behavior typically serve half their sentences. Ohio prison officials earlier this month agreed to take over supervision of Turner's probation.

Greene County Sheriff Gene Fischer said Turner has five days to register as a sex offender with his office in Xenia, Ohio, 15 miles east of Dayton. He will have to report to a probation officer for three years and must avoid alcohol and drugs during that time.

Fischer said his department will send postcards to Turner's neighbors informing them that a convicted sex offender is moving in nearby. Turner will be required to register every three months in person at the sheriff's office, reaffirming that he is still living with his parents, the sheriff said.

Deputies also will check on Turner periodically and without warning to ensure he has not moved out without permission from authorities.

Turner also is barred from parks, schools and other places where children are expected to gather.

"He will be treated no differently than any other sex offender we monitor," Fischer said.

http://bigstory.ap.org/54d251e85e694c33a0327af6cc281d5a

Wqhfrt · Sep 2, 2016

The Wrong Guy said: ↑

Ex-Stanford swimmer leaves jail after serving half his term | Associated Press

Excerpt:

California jail inmates with good behavior typically serve half their sentences. Ohio prison officials earlier this month agreed to take over supervision of Turner's probation.

Greene County Sheriff Gene Fischer said Turner has five days to register as a sex offender with his office in Xenia, Ohio, 15 miles east of Dayton. He will have to report to a probation officer for three years and must avoid alcohol and drugs during that time.

Fischer said his department will send postcards to Turner's neighbors informing them that a convicted sex offender is moving in nearby. Turner will be required to register every three months in person at the sheriff's office, reaffirming that he is still living with his parents, the sheriff said.

Deputies also will check on Turner periodically and without warning to ensure he has not moved out without permission from authorities.

Turner also is barred from parks, schools and other places where children are expected to gather.

"He will be treated no differently than any other sex offender we monitor," Fischer said.

http://bigstory.ap.org/54d251e85e694c33a0327af6cc281d5a

The judge had more than one bad decision under his belt and there is a move to get rid of him

http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-...brock-turner-release-20160902-snap-story.html

Protesters on Friday marched around the courthouse carrying colorful, handmade signs and chanting, “Hey, Hey, Ho, Ho, Judge Persky has got to go.” What began as a grass-roots effort against sexual assault and privilege has evolved into a focused campaign to recall the jurist, with a team of veteran political consultants and supporters at all levels of government.

mpaign says it since has found a pattern of bias in the punishment the judge has doled out in sex crimes against women. Among the incidents they cite is the case of college football player Ikaika Lukas Gunderson in the sexual assault of his ex-girlfriend, a sentencing which Persky delayed for a year.

State Senate leader Kevin de León on Friday pointed to another case, that of Raul Ramirez, a 32-year-old immigrant from El Salvador who de León said admitted to sexually assaulting his roommate.

Unlike Turner, Ramirez apologized and cried with remorse, de León said. But Persky showed no leniency, sentencing him to three years in state prison.

The Wrong Guy · Sep 6, 2016

Brock Turner Registers as Sex Offender | TMZ

TMZ has obtained the registration, filed in Greene County, Ohio, near his parents' home in Bellbrook.

https://www.tmz.com/2016/09/06/brock-turner-sex-offender-registers-sexual-assault/

Brock Turner's Parents' House Egged | TMZ

Brock Turner was only home a minute before the wrath in his Bellbrook community surfaced, in the form of an egging.

The Sugarcreek Township Police Department did a house check on Brock's parents' home late Monday night and discovered it had been egged with at least a carton.

According to the incident report -- obtained by TMZ -- officers found broken eggs and an egg carton on the sidewalk, in front of Brock's residence.

Brock registered as a sex offender Tuesday.

https://www.tmz.com/2016/09/06/brock-turner-parents-house-egged/

Disambiguation · Sep 6, 2016

Protesters in front of Brock Turner's house

"“The police have been surprisingly, albeit passively, supportive,” Micah said. “They can’t come out and say they agree with us, for professional reasons, but we have been given reason to believe they do.”

He adds that “there have been no threats” to Turner or his family, adding that “no one here is breaking any law in protesting him, even militantly.”

http://countercurrentnews.com/2016/09/anonymous-stanford-brock-turner-protest/

Disambiguation · Sep 6, 2016

They're armed, not sure why but it's legal carry so the police let them protest.

The Wrong Guy · Sep 17, 2016

Garbage Alt-Right Dude Hopes To Dox Brock Turner’s Rapee, For Liberty, And Fairness

By Robyn Pennacchia, Wonkette, September 13, 2016

Quote:

Manosphere winner Matt Forney took a break last week from shouting his love for Donald Trump from the rooftops, pushing Clinton conspiracy theories, pointing out other people’s physical flaws, writing about how fat women don’t deserve to be loved — and, I am not kidding, writing books about how to pick up women in the Philippines — in order to ask for help with his latest mission: doxxing Emily Doe, Brock Turner’s victim.

Continued here:
http://wonkette.com/606536/garbage-...-brock-turners-rapee-for-liberty-and-fairness

https://twitter.com/BasedMattForney

https://twitter.com/search?f=tweets&vertical=default&q=MattForney

The Wrong Guy · Jul 1, 2017

Judge in Stanford sexual assault case offers first defense of his decision | Associated Press

Quote:

A judge who is facing a recall effort over the sexual-assault sentence he gave a former Stanford University swimmer is publicly defending himself for the first time, saying that it's his job to consider lighter sentences for first offenders and that he cannot allow public opinion to factor in his decisions.

“California law requires every judge to consider rehabilitation and probation for first-time offenders,” Superior Court Judge Aaron Persky wrote in the statement filed with the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters.

The statement makes no direct reference to Brock Turner. The six-month sentence Persky gave Turner last year spurred outrage and brought on the recall effort.

It cites a review of Persky's rulings by the Associated Press that found that he followed the recommendations of the parole board in every similar case, suggesting that Turner did not receive special treatment for his status as a white collegiate athlete, as many critics have suggested.

“As a judge, my role is to consider both sides,” Persky says in the statement. “It's not always popular, but it's the law and I took an oath to follow it without regard to public opinion or my opinions as a former prosecutor.” Persky adds that he “fought vigorously for victims” when he was a prosecutor.

If approved by the county, Persky's statement will appear on the petitions for his recall, along with a statement filed by his opponents.

Those opponents, a group led by Stanford University law professor Michele Dauber, filed paperwork Monday with the registrar in the first formal step toward removing Persky.

The group will have 160 days to gather the nearly 59,000 signatures of registered voters needed to qualify the measure for the ballot next year.

Turner could have faced up to 14 years behind bars for sexually assaulting the woman who had passed out behind a trash bin near a fraternity house.

Source: http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-brock-turner-stanford-rape-judge-20170630-story.html

Turner has found Jesus: https://twitter.com/realbrockturner

The Wrong Guy · Dec 2, 2017

Brock Turner, convicted of sexual assault, asks for new trial | CNN

Quote:

The former Stanford University swimmer who was convicted last year of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman -- and spent only three months in jail -- is appealing his convictions and requesting a new trial.

Lawyers for Brock Turner filed an appeal Friday with California's 6th District Court of Appeal, claiming their client was denied due process during his 2016 trial and calling it "fundamentally unfair."

Turner was charged after two Stanford graduate students witnessed the assault taking place in January 2015 while they were riding bicycles near Stanford. He was 19 at the time.

A jury in Santa Clara County found Turner guilty in March 2016 on three felony counts: assault with intent to commit rape of an intoxicated or unconscious person, penetration of an intoxicated person and penetration of an unconscious person.

Key to Turner's request for a new trial is a statement the prosecutor repeatedly made during trial, saying the assault occurred "behind the dumpster."

The assault, Turner's lawyers argue, did not occur "behind the dumpster." Indeed, the victim was found in a "completely open setting," the appeal states, adding that the implication that the crime occurred "behind the dumpster" prejudiced the jury against Turner.

That characterization of the crime, "implied an intent on the appellant's part to shield and sequester his activities" and "implied moral depravity, callousness and culpability on the appellant's part because of the inherent connotations of filth, garbage, detritus and criminal activity frequently associated with dumpsters," the document states.

The appeal also claims Turner was denied a fair trial because witnesses who would testify to his good character were excluded by the court. It also claims the prosecution failed "to present constitutionally sufficient evidence" to support the three counts of conviction.

Turner's lawyer, Eric Multhaup, said he had nothing to add about "the unfairness of the conviction" beyond the court filing.

"What we are saying is that what happened is not a crime," John Tompkins, Turner's legal adviser, told KNTV. "It happened, but it was not anywhere close to a crime."

Turner's trial was thrown into the national spotlight after the victim's wrenching impact statement went viral, then again when Superior Court Judge Aaron Persky gave Turner to a six-month jail sentence, prompting an outcry from critics who said the punishment was too lenient. As a result of the backlash, Persky -- at his own request -- no longer hears criminal cases.

Turner was released for good behavior after serving just half the sentence imposed. As part of his sentence, Turner must register for life as a sex offender.

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2017/12/02/us/brock-turner-sexual-assault-appeal/

CalleKnows · Dec 2, 2017

Please give him a new trial, it's doubtful he will find another enabling judge especially when his lawyers say it wasn't a crime.

KittyKatSpanker · Feb 2, 2018

Disambiguation said: ↑

https://www.buzzfeed.com/katiejmbak...read-to-her-ra?utm_term=.ctQ8zlp3Z#.dfRMQAz1W
"You don't know me, but you have been inside me, and that's why we're here today."

DAMN !

Calle Calle · Feb 3, 2018

Here's the brief with all the excuses
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4320710-H043709-Aob-Turner-1.html

The Wrong Guy · Aug 8, 2018

The Associated Press‏ @AP 15 minutes ago
BREAKING: California appeals court rejects new trial for Brock Turner, Stanford swimmer convicted of rape.

Court upholds ex-Stanford swimmer's sex assault conviction | The Associated Press‏
https://apnews.com/c63571c1cf2d4c2bad3a73027fd6b159

DeathHamster · Aug 9, 2018

Brock Turner loses appeal of his conviction in Stanford sexual assault case
https://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Brock-Turner-loses-appeal-of-his-conviction-in-13142343.php

The Wrong Guy · Sep 24, 2018

Voters oust judge who gave Brock Turner 6 months for sex assault | CNN

Quote:

Two years after Judge Aaron Persky sentenced a Stanford athlete to six months for sexual assault, voters in California delivered their own verdict by booting him from office.

With 100% of Santa Clara County precincts reporting, 60% of voters said Persky should be removed from the bench. About 40% said he should keep his job.

<snipped>

...once the election is certified, Persky will no longer be a judge. This marks the first time since 1932 that California voters have recalled a sitting judge.

More at https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/06/us/judge-aaron-persky-recall-results-brock-turner/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Persky

Disambiguation · Oct 3, 2018

^..^

Amazing victim statement

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