WASHINGTON – It’s a case that has the whole country talking.
Last week, Brock Turner, a former swimmer at Stanford University, was sentenced to six months in county jail and probation for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman.
Sadly, the crime itself isn’t shocking. Instead, people are outraged over the treatment Turner received from the judge and his family members.
If you aren’t familiar with the case, Turner was arrested after he was seen sexually assaulting the young woman behind a dumpster outside of a Stanford University fraternity house.
After Turner was found guilty on three felony counts, including assault with intent to commit rape of an intoxicated/unconscious person, penetration of an intoxicated person and penetration of an unconscious person, he faced a maximum of 14 years in prison.
Turner’s father called on the judge to be lenient in his sentencing, saying that his son had already paid “a steep price … for 20 minutes of action.”
Click here to read the father’s full statement to the court.
Prosecutors asked the judge to sentence Turner to six years in a state prison,the Guardian reports.
However, the judge only sentenced Turner to six months in county jail because he feared a longer sentence would have a “severe impact” on the 20-year-old.
“A prison sentence would have a severe impact on him,” said the judge. “I think he will not be a danger to others.”
The decision by the judge and the father’s attitude toward the crime have sparked outrage across the country, with calls for the judge to be removed.
It has also created comparisons between other high-profile cases that had a much different outcome.
Cory Batey, a former Vanderbilt University football player, was convicted of aggravated rape when he sexually assaulted an unconscious woman in a dorm room on campus.
Photo: WTVC / MGN
While Batey hasn’t been sentenced yet, the aggravated rape conviction alone carries a 15 to 25 year prison sentence.
“Cory Batey’s minimum possible prison sentence, though, is actually 3,000% longer than what Brock Turner was given for a comparable crime,” the New York Daily News reports.
In another case, Lee Carroll Brooker was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for growing marijuana in his backyard.
Prosecutors say Brooker was subjected to strict mandatory minimum sentencing laws in Alabama because of the weight of the plants.
Even though several states are currently working to reform drug laws, it seems that change will be slow.
Despite hundreds of thousands of people calling for Judge Aaron Perskey to be removed from the bench, he was given a new 6-year term on Tuesday.
USA Today reports that Persky, who was once a prosecutor who focused on sexual offenders, was up for re-election on Tuesday, but voting was canceled because he had no challengers.
