One of the biggest stories this week is the sentencing of Brock Turner. Turner was charged with three felony sexual assault counts which resulted in a California judge’s decision of six-month jail sentence. Turner will also be on probation for three years and have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life. However, all the major media sites cannot help but focus on the fact that he used to swim for Stanford.
His time at Stanford could be what gave Turner such a light sentence. It obviously isn’t unusual for athletes to get a slap on the wrist, this has happened too many times in the past, then there’s the old stereotype that “Turner doesn’t look like someone who could commit that type of crime”. Obviously, that’s one of the biggest bullsh*t excuses that has ever been constructed. Clearly, there’s no “look” of someone who commits sexual assault/rape and if there was, news flash: it would look like Turner does.
Almost immediately after his conviction, Turner’s father decided to share his own statement. You can take a look at it here.
#brockturner father: son not "violent" only got "20 mins of action" shouldn't have to go to prison. @thehuntinground pic.twitter.com/IFECJs687b
— Michele Dauber (@mldauber) June 5, 2016
The statement immediately went viral, but not for the way that the father had hoped. The most disgusting statement is underlined in red by Dauber, “That is a steep price to pay for 20 minutes of action out of his 20 plus years of life.” Clearly, we can all see where Turner gets his misogynistic attitude from. Turner’s father completely discredits the victim, continues to live by the mantra that Turner is innocent and acts as if Turner’s dreams have been crushed by the victim instead of vice versa. Turner’s mother has since released a statement, further echoing her husband’s points. They both pointed out that their son is not the same person. The “night” ruined his life and took away their lively and fun son.
Honestly, it makes me sick to know that people actually think this way. It shouldn’t matter where Brock Turner went to school, what sport he played or if he can play for Team USA for people to care about justice for sexual assault victims. It shouldn’t take an extremely questionable verdict for people to care about a victim. If anyone can learn anything, it should be that college athletes should not be given the “special” treatment that they do and be treated the same as everyone else if they chose to commit a crime.
