Dear Brock Turner,
So. . . what are you going to do now? I have to admit, I was not shocked at all by your early release. After receiving a measly six months jail sentence after assaulting an intoxicated woman behind a dumpster, and the sham that was your trial, I don't think anything can surprise me now.
After your trial showed that woman, and women everywhere, that they weren't important enough to fight for, I have to say that no, I am not surprised you are roaming the streets. I am not surprised that I've had a jar of peanut butter longer than you were in jail.
But that's not the point I'm trying to make. The question I'm trying to get the answer to is, where do you go from here? How do you move on from this? Do you go back to the scene of the crime, wandering the halls of Stanford and keeping a low profile for the next couple of years? Do you try to get a job, forgoing college and swimming all together?
How do you date, from here on out? Your name has become a household one in the most unfortunate manner. If you manage to meet a girl who doesn't recognize you, do you disclose your past on the first date? Or do you wait for her to start to care for you, and then make the her have the hard conversation of telling her who she's fallen in love with?
How does your family act around you? I'm genuinely curious. Do they see Brock, their son and friend, the little boy that used to run around in the sprinklers in the front yard? Or do they see a changed man, weighed down by the consequences of his actions, however light those consequences may be?
Ultimately, I want to know one thing--was it worth it? Was all of this worth, "20 minutes of action," as your father so eloquently put? Was this worth a lifetime slot on the sex offender registry? Was it worth the way people see you, the way they will always see you, for the rest of your life? Whether or not you have become a completely changed man, apologize and ask for forgiveness, and never cross that line again, you will always be seen for the actions you have committed. Was it worth it?
I don't ask these questions to make you feel bad. I don't hate you; you probably hate yourself, and that's worse than anything. I simply want you to think, for one minute, and ask yourself if all of this was worth it. My only hope is that, through the publicity of this trial (even excluding the light sentencing), other young men and women will think twice before taking advantage of the situation like you did. I pity you, and I pray that you find a way to live with this. Your victim will have to, for the rest of her life. I hope that you can learn from this, and be an example of how one bad decision can obstruct and decimate your life and the lives of those involved.
