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Politics and Activism

An Open Letter To The Turner Family, Their Supporters And Judge Aaron Persky

Expressing my disgust on how these individuals managed to victimize a rapist.

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An Open Letter To The Turner Family, Their Supporters And Judge Aaron Persky
Mercury News

Over the last couple of months or so, the BrockTurner story has been all over the media. I remember when it was just building up. The guilty verdict. And I made the mistake of thinking, "Justice is about to be served." But it wasn't. Brock Turner was sentenced to a mere six months in prison despite the maximum sentence being 14 years. Recently, I've discovered that his sentence has already been shortened by two months and he will serve his sentence in protected custody. This entire ordeal has shocked me. But it's not the incident that surprised me. Unfortunately sexual assault amongst college students isn't uncommon. Especially at parties and social gatherings where alcohol is involved. What I found most disgusting about this case was the family's reaction to the incident, how many people are supporting Turner, and the incompetence of Judge Aaron Persky. I plan to address each group individually.

I will start by addressing the family of this rapist. Honestly your actions have sickened me so much that it’s hard for me to even write to you. So I’ll be brief. Let me start with you Mr. Dan Turner. You ignorant, misogynistic, scumbag. You stated that your son was paying a steep price for "20 minutes of action". How dare you! How DARE you stand up before the court, in front of the girl your son RAPED and dismiss such a disgusting act as 20 minutes of action. You made other statements about how your son never smiles anymore. How he will never be his old happy go lucky self. Boo hoo. And you had the audacity to set up a fundraiser for your criminal son. You’re a sad excuse for a father. You know what my dad would say to the judge if I was found guilty of rape?He’d tell him to give me the maximum sentence. You’re a disgusting excuse for a father. Next I will address you Mrs. Carleen Turner. You wrote a whole letter to the judge begging for leniency for your "poor boy". In your letter you point out that Brock is such a good boy. Painting him as an upstanding citizen and an honest man. And then you had the GALL to say that he was "utterly terrified and traumatized." Did you ever for a second think about how the girl who he unwillingly used for his own pleasure must have felt? When she woke up in that gurney, battered, violated? No, you didn’t. Which leads us to the most disgusting part of your whole letter. Not one time did you mention the victim of your son’s crime. Not even to apologize or show a bit of sympathy. Looking at the way you two handled the situation has shown me, and certainly others, how you are selfish, insolent individuals. You should be ashamed of yourselves.

Now I will briefly address those individuals who are supporting the Turner family. This goes for anyone who has donated any money to them, openly advocate for lifting his lifetime olympic ban, or show any other support for the rapist or his family. You are honestly all scumbags. Imagine if it was your loved one that was raped. To so openly disregard the mental scarring that Brock Turner has inflicted on his victim is disgusting to me. At one point there was a Facebook page calling for the Olympics to lift Turner’s lifetime ban. I think that that is absolutely despicable. No rapist should be representing this country. I don’t care if he’s the greatest swimmer on the face of the Earth. Let me make something extremely clear: Brock Turner is not an athlete that slipped up and made a mistake. Brock Turner is a rapist who happens to also know how to swim.

And lastly I will address you Judge Aaron Persky. What the hell were you thinking? AS a judge it is your duty to serve justice. The jury found him guilty of not one, not two, but THREE counts of sexual assault. A sentence that could’ve warranted up to 14 years in prison. The evidence was there. And on June 2nd, 2016, you made the decision to disregard the Jury. Even after hearing the victim read her 12 page letter to her assaulter. (I would recommend reading it, as it truly is a disturbing account of what happened that night and how it affected her.) You managed to give Mr. Turner a light sentence of 6 months in prison. Six months. You had the nerve to justify your incompetence by claiming that given Turner’s lack of a criminal history and positive character references had led you to shorten his sentence. You said that prison would have "A severe impact on him". And I agree. Which is exactly why he should’ve been sent straight there. That’s the way justice works. Did you consider the severe impact his actions had on her? Or was it just not important to you. Not only did you treat a criminal like a victim, but you basically spat in the real victim’s face. You told her that her body, her mental health, her nights of crying, and her pain, was not important enough to warrant even 25 percent of the maximum punishment for the crimes he committed. You should be ashamed of yourself.

Honestly I have so much more I could say on this topic but those were the main 3 parties I wanted to address. I mean it’s honestly pretty ironic. Turner, a convicted rapist, will be spending less than six months in prison in protected custody. His mom is so scared that he will be assaulted in prison and that it will scar him, but manages to ignore that he has scared someone else for the rest of her life. Despicable.

Well I’m about done ranting now. I would like to again recommend that you all read the letter written to Turner that she read in court. It will make you uncomfortable. And it should. And as a last closing remark, I’d like to address you, Brock Turner. No amount of apology will ever make what you forgivable. You may have gotten off easy with the judge. Clearly you’re ignorant parents’ words really stood out to him. But know this Brock, you will never stop feeling the effects of your actions. And you know what? I don’t hope anyone hurts you. I don’t hope that you die young. I don’t even hope that someone violates you in prison. No I wouldn’t take comfort in that. I doubt that the victim would either. All I hope is that what your parents said is true. I hope that you are a shell of your former self. I hope that you aren’t your happy go-lucky self. I hope that you truly don’t feel like eating or sleeping. Because all of those feelings PALE in comparison to how she felt when she woke up in that hospital. But anyway, have fun in prison you scumbag. Who knows? Maybe if you splash a little water in your face in the shower, you can pretend like you're participating in the Olympics this summer.

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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
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