A group of protesters from the Dayton, Ohio, area showed up outside the Turner family’s residence in Sugarcreek Township on Friday.
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Turner’s early release Friday after three months in jail was met by a throng of television and press cameras from far-reaching parts of the country, as well as women’s safety advocates who continue to lament the light sentence given to the former Stanford swimmer for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman past year outside a campus party.
TV news cameras caught the 21-year-old former swimmer as he left the Santa Clara County Jail in San Jose, California, and quickly drove away in a vehicle without commenting.
As a Tier III sex offender, Turner will have to fulfill several mandatory requirements, including re-registering four times per year for the rest of his life and serving three years of probation.
Here’s why: Because of the Criminal Justice Realignment Act of 2011, offenders in California sentenced to time in county jail are eligible to cut their sentences in half at an accelerated rate, as long as they behave. “I thought maybe I had fallen and was in an admin office on campus” she said. Turner was sexually assaulting her when two graduate students passing by on bicycles confronted him, pinned him down as he tried to flee and called police. The next thing she said she remembered was waking up at a hospital in San Jose, where a deputy told her she may have been a victim of sexual assault.
Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith said Turner received nonspecific threats in jail in addition to a large packet of hate mail given to him as he left jail. The outcry also prompted legislation sent to Brown last week that would effectively require prison for anyone convicted of raping or sexually assaulting an unconscious or intoxicated person. Brown hasn’t said whether he will sign it.
Following backlash and a push for a recall, Mr Persky voluntarily removed himself from hearing criminal cases, starting next week. Turner was released early on good behaviour. “Judge Persky does not”.
But supporters of the recall campaign said that is not enough. She read it before Turner’s June 2 sentencing, noting probation officials took into account his lost swimming career in its recommendation to the judge. Most significant, he is required to register as a sex offender for life.
‘If he doesn’t check in with his probation officer [in Ohio] within 72 hours, then he has to check in with us, which would mean him spending the next three years here’.
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Fischer said his department will notify Turner’s neighbors informing them that a convicted sex offender is moving nearby. Turner has to check in with the sheriff every three months and is subject to random searches of his home.
