In January 2015, 20-year-old Brock Allen Turner, a "star" swimmer at Stanford University, raped a young, intoxicated, unconscious woman, "Emily Doe," behind a dumpster. In the midst of the assault, two passers-by witnessed Turner raping Doe and called out to him. Turner ran away and was tackled by the witnesses who held him until police arrived on the scene.
In March 2016, a unanimous jury convicted Turner for the crime of rape. He faced up to 14 years in prison, and the prosecutors argued for six years. Despite the evidence, Brock Allen Turner received a sentence of just six months and three years probation. Judge Aaron Persky (who is up for reelection this week in California's Santa Clara County) worried that a harsher, longer sentence would have a "severe impact" on Turner. Persky was more concerned about the welfare of a star athlete who sexually assaulted an unconscious woman behind a dumpster than he was for the victim.
In a statement to probation authorities, Brock Allen Turner wrote:
"I would give anything to change what happened that night. I can never forgive myself for imposing trauma and pain on (the victim)."
Wow. Just like a true abuser always says, you can never forgive yourself.
Poor rapist.
You're super lucky that you have some white male rape apologists on your side, though. Your rape apologist father, Dan A. Turner, is worried that your life will never be the same -- because now the world knows you're a RAPIST. He's concerned that you'll never return to being your "happy go lucky self with that easy going personality and welcoming smile," because you're now a registered sex offender. He said in a letter, that your light sentence was a "steep price to pay for 20 minutes of action out of his 20 plus years of life."
"20 minutes of action" -- now that's a spin, isn't it? I'll bet your father would feel differently if he or your mother endured the same kind of "20 minutes of action" Emily Doe endured from a monster like you. I'll bet your dad wouldn't be so quick to defend that rapist -- especially if the rapist's skin wasn't white. I'll bet he'd have a completely different perspective. But hey, your unconscious victim was just some drunk girl, right? Who cares about her? She was a slut, right? She was probably asking for it -- oh, wait, she was unconscious. She wasn't able to give you consent to assault her behind a dumpster. She wasn't able to ask you to rape her.
There's a teeny tiny sliver of deserved karma here, Brock Allen Turner: in this day and age where people can search your name online, it'll be easy to find out that you're a convicted rapist. It'll be easy for employers and women you might be romantically interested in to search your name and find out who you really are. Your "20 minutes of action" will follow you for a lifetime. When people search your name, not only will they find out that you're a rapist, they'll find out that your victim was out cold and unable to fight you. They'll find out you violated your victim's body because she couldn't fight you off. So aside from being a rapist, they'll find out you're a coward, too.
Maybe your rape apologist father weeps for the temporary dampening of your easy-going personality, but the rest of the world sees you for who and what you are -- a white privileged rapist. You not only violated someone's body without consent, you have destroyed a part of your victim's psyche from which she'll never recover. For the rest of her life, she'll have to live with your selfish, violent choice to rape her behind a dumpster. I doubt your never being able to forgive yourself will ease her post-traumatic stress.
I wonder what kind of sentence a black or Hispanic person would receive if they did what you what you did to your victim. I'm guessing it would be a lot more than six months. Especially because they wouldn't be a white male star athlete at a prestigious college on track to be an Olympic swimmer, otherwise known as an American God.
You guys have all the luck, don't you? You get to rape women and suffer almost no consequences. Society -- specifically, rape culture -- doesn't want to see you punished for a violent assault because you're supposed to represent the American dream.
You're supposed to be the White Knight college student who inspires other young men to study hard and engage in sports so they can continue the traditions we so desperately cling to in this country -- traditions that include the privilege of assaulting girls and women without consequence. So what if you damaged another human being for the rest of her life? It's all about YOU, white, star athlete Brock Allen Turner. You're the one society values over everyone else -- especially drunk sluts who wear revealing clothing.
This sickening narrative is slowly changing. Young athletes who rape women are now being discussed online by the outraged public. We spread the names of rapists around so other potential rapists might think twice. Maybe some other young college star athlete is reading this, or one of the many other articles about you, Brock Allen Turner, and all the attention you're receiving will serve as a cautionary tale. Maybe they're thinking, "I don't want to end up like Brock Allen Turner. I've worked too hard to throw it all away and be identified as a rapist and have my name posted all over the internet like Brock Allen Turner has."
Maybe, just maybe, more people will write blogs and articles about you, Brock Allen Turner. You had the good fortune of being young, white and privileged when it was up to the courts. You're so lucky your white privileged father could afford to purchase an expensive lawyer to represent you. And you were lucky your fate was decided by a privileged white male rape apologist judge. Your good luck stops there, Brock Allen Turner.
Now your fate and your actions have been forever chronicled online. Your picture will be available for all to see for decades. Memes with your face will be posted on Facebook and Tumblr pages alerting the public of who and what you are. Your twenty minutes of violent assault will define you for a lifetime. Employers, potential love interests, Olympic coaches, your future children -- we'll all have the damning information at our fingertips.
Brock Allen Turner is a cowardly rapist -- but I repeat myself.
I considered writing this letter under an alias since the recipient is a convicted rapist, and as a woman blogger, I might be putting myself in physical danger. I realized that the only way we as a culture will overcome the tragic consequences of rape culture is to publicly stand in solidarity for the victims. Would-be attackers must know that we will not be silent. We will make sure rapists are held accountable for their actions.
This letter was inspired by a blog post titled: We With The Pitchforks
Like Kimberley A. Johnson on Facebook HERE or follow her HERE. Books:American Woman The Poll Dance, The Virgin Diaries.