More outrage. Brock Turner, the Stanford University swimmer who made headlines last week after being given a light six-month jail sentence for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman, is bound to cause yet another uproar this week.
According to The Associated Press, 20-year-old Turner will actually be allowed to leave jail three months early, meaning that he will serve just three months of his six-month sentence.
At present, online inmate records show that Turner was booked on Thursday, June 2, and has an expected release date of September 2.
The AP reports that inmates at the Santa Clara County jail, where Turner is being held, are allowed to serve 50 percent of their sentences if they keep a clean disciplinary record.
The prosecution originally asked for a six-year sentence for three felony counts: attempted rape, sexual penetration of an intoxicated woman and sexual penetration of an unconscious woman.
Turner’s case made national headlines after the victim, an unidentified 23-year-old woman, penned a powerful letter to Turner, which she read aloud in court and published in full on BuzzFeed.
“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,” she wrote of the aftermath of the assault. “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.”
A letter that Turner’s father submitted to the judge was then released publicly, one that critics slammed as tone-deaf.
“His life will never be the one that he dreamed about and worked so hard to achieve,” the elder Turner wrote. “That is a steep price to pay for 20 minutes of action out of his 20 plus years of life.”
Recently, Turner’s former high school guidance counselor, Kelly Owens, came forward to state that she regretted supporting the college athlete during his rape trial.
“In the statement I submitted to the judge during the criminal proceedings and before sentencing referencing Brock’s character, I made a mistake,” Owens wrote, via ABC. “Of course he should be held accountable. I pray for the victim, her family and all those affected by this horrible event. I am truly sorry for the additional pain my statement has caused. I tell my students they have to be accountable, and Brock is no exception.”
