Stanford Sexual Assault: Father Defends Convicted Son, Says He Shouldn’t Be Jailed For ‘20 Minutes Of Action’

The father of the ex-Stanford University athlete convicted on multiple charges of sexual assault spoke out in support of his son, saying he should not have to go to prison for “20 minutes of action.” The 20-year-old from Ohio was convicted of three felonies including assault with intent to commit rape of an intoxicated woman, sexually penetrating an intoxicated person with a foreign object and sexually penetrating an unconscious person with a foreign object.

Brock Turner was sentenced to six months of imprisonment and probation when facing a maximum sentence of up to 14 years in prison. On Thursday, Judge Aaron Perksy said Turner was expected to serve a prison time of three months, citing positive character references and a lack of criminal record as influences for leniency. The judge added that prison would have “a severe impact” on Turner.

An excerpt of a statement written by Turner’s father was tweeted by Michele Dauber, a professor of Law at Stanford University. In his statement, the elder Turner insisted that his son’s life had “been deeply altered forever.”

“He will never be his happy go lucky self with that easy going personality and welcoming smile,” Dan A. Turner wrote of his son. “His every waking minute is consumed with worry, anxiety, fear, and depression. You can see this in his face, the way he walks, his weakened voice, his lack of appetite.”

At the Santa Clara Superior Courthouse in Palo Alto, Turner’s victim gave an emotional speech at the hearing, saying: “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.”

The speech, since being published on Saturday, has been viewed over 4 million times on Buzzfeed.

In his own statement, Turner said he is in the process of setting up a program for high school and college students where he would “speak out against the college campus drinking culture and the sexual promiscuity that goes along with that.”