Senator Barbara Boxer on Tuesday decried a California judge’s decision to sentence a college athlete to just six months in jail for sexual assault, while signatures on an online petition calling for the jurist’s ouster passed 400,000.
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“She was unconscious the entire time”: a student who helped stop a sexual assault at Stanford University details what he witnessed.
In a statement released Monday, Stanford says it reached out to the victim to offer support and inform her of the steps the university was taking.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Brock Turner began his short-lived career as a swimmer at Stanford University two years ago amid renewed efforts by the prestigious California school and other US colleges to prevent campus sexual assaults.
Carl-Fredrik Arndt, left, and Peter Jonsson were cycling through Stanford University when they stopped the sexual assault.
For the first time, one of those “hero” post-graduate students – Swedish nationals Carl-Fredrik Arndt and Peter Jonsson – has spoken of the night in January previous year when, as they were cycling to a party, they saw from a distance the figures of a man and a woman behind a bin. “So we did a thorough investigation, we presented considerable evidence to the county for prosecution and it was a successful prosecution”, she said. So we called him out on it. When Turner ran away, two students tackled and held him for police, prosecutors said.
The sentence last week by Santa Clara County Judge Aaron Persky against former Stanford University swimmer Brock Turner gained global attention after a letter from the athlete’s father to the judge that was posted online described the assault as “20 minutes of action”. Some are urging he be removed from the bench.
Arndt told Expressen he had still not met the woman, but had read her “very strong” victim impact statement.
Judge Persky found Turner’s character, lack of criminal history and remorse enough to bypass a heavier penalty of six years in state prison requested by prosecutors.
Twenty-five superior court judges, including Persky, are up for re-election in November.
“He is an absolutely solid and respected judge”, said Santa Clara County deputy public defender Gary Goodman.
He is barred from commenting on the case because Turner is appealing his conviction, court spokesman Joe Macaluso said. Stanford law professor Michele Dauber has vowed to start a more formal recall effort against Persky, but that is a hard process rarely used in California.
The backlash over the case flared when Dauber released the letter that Turner’s father wrote to the judge before sentencing, saying his son had lost his appetite and will never be his happy-go-lucky self again.
A BuzzFeed post of the statement the victim read in court to Turner has 5.4 million views as of Monday, four days after the sentencing. “That is a steep price to pay for 20 minutes of action out of his 20 plus years of life”.
The group also wants Stanford to “immediately and publicly apologize to the survivor based on the fact that the attack happened on Stanford’s campus and express support for her bravery and suffering”. Turner also was intoxicated.
“My independence, natural joy, gentleness, and steady lifestyle I had been enjoying became distorted beyond recognition”.
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“Most importantly, thank you to the two men who saved me, who I have yet to meet”, she said in her 7000-word statement.
