Brock Turner raped an unconscious woman and tried to run away when caught in the act. He was found guilty of three felonies: assault with intent to commit rape of an intoxicated or unconscious person, sexual penetration of an intoxicated person, and sexual penetration of an unconscious person. His father believes prison is not appropriate for his “20 minutes of action”.

First, here is the most egregious part of his letter, highlighted in yellow:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As it stands now, Brock’s life has been deeply altered forever by the events of Jan 17th and 18th.

By the events – as opposed to “by his actions”. This was not an event that happened to him, this is a thing he chose to do. (deflection, rape culture, blame shifting, patriarchy)

He will never be his happy go lucky self…etc.

Because he’s a rapist. (Son should be able to remain unchanged after committing heinous crime – male privilege, rape culture, patriarchy)

His every waking moment is consumed  with worry, anxiety, fear and depression.

So he can identify with his victim. Good to know. (lack of concern that his victim’s psychological state is the same because of him, concern only for the rapist – male privilege, patriarchy, rape culture)

You can see this in his face, the way he walks, his weakened voice, his lack of appetite. Brock always enjoyed certain types of food and is a very good cook himself. I was always excited to buy him a big ribeye steak to grill or to get his favorite snack for him.

Brock rapes an unconscious woman behind a dumpster and dad’s big concern is his son can no longer enjoy steak. (  the worst thing to happen to a rapist is losing his appetite – male privilege, patriarchy)

Now he barely consumes any food and eats only to exist.  These verdicts have broken and shattered him and our family in so many ways. His life will never be the one that he dreamed about and worked so hard to achieve. 

Eating to exist is kind of the point of consumption of food, but I digress. The verdicts did not do the shattering, the rape did the shattering. He killed his dreams himself, he worked hard to achieve rape. (deflection, blame shifting from crime to consequence -male privilege)

That is a steep price to pay for 20 minutes of action out of his 20 plus years of life.

Rape is “20 minutes of action” and his violent crime shouldn’t have a steep price as a consequence. (rape is sex, violent crime shouldn’t effect felon’s life – misogyny, male privilege, patriarchy, rape culture, minimizing)

The fact that he now has to register as a sexual offender for the rest of his life forever alters where he can live, visit, work, and how he will be able to interact with people and organizations.

Women’s safety is less important than his son having more options for housing, work, and social interaction. (patriarchy, rape culture, misogyny, male privilege)

What I know as his father is that incarceration is not the appropriate punishment for Brock.

Three felony convictions, prison not appropriate. (white privilege)

He has no prior criminal history and has never been violent to anyone including his actions on the night of Jan 17th 2015. 

Rape isn’t violence. Sexual assault is not a violent crime. Violent criminals shouldn’t be punished the first time they’re caught. (rape culture, male privilege, patriarchy, minimizing) 

Brock can do so many positive things as a contributor to society and is totally committed to educating other college age students about the dangers of alcohol consumption and sexual promiscuity.

Alcohol makes men rape. Promiscuity makes men rape. (deflection, blame shifting, rape culture, patriarchy)

By having people like Brock educate others on college campuses is how society can begin to break the cycle of binge drinking and its unfortunate results. 

Binge drinking causes rape. Rape is not a violent crime, but an “unfortunate result”. (rape culture, male privilege, patriarchy, blame shifting, minimizing)

Probation is the best answer for Brock in this situation and allows him to give
back to society in a net positive way.

He doesn’t deserve punishment because he’s a good boy who learned things, like drinking and promiscuity are bad. (male privilege, white privilege, class privilege)

---

That is from a single paragraph of a 3 page letter. Not only did the dad think it was completely appropriate to enter into court records, he says his words were misinterpreted. Another “unfortunate” thing.

The victim wrote a letter, too. It didn’t sway the judge.

The judge sided with the rapist, and sentenced Turner to 6 months in jail and 3 years probation. (rape culture, patriarchy, male privilege, class privilege, athlete privilege)

There are a bunch of petitions to protest the sentence and to sanction the judge if you’re so inclined.

---

And for the magic workers out there, there is a collective working to address the lack of justice in this case.

---

This constant fight to be treated with dignity and worth exhausts me.