A few days after the statement from former Stanford University student Brock Turner’s father (and its edited version) went viral, a new statement from Turner’s mother, Carleen, has been released.
The letter, which was released along with other court documents, was written to Judge Aaron Persky before the sentencing, pleading with him not to send Turner to jail.
“I beg of you, please don’t send him to jail/prison. Look at him. He won’t survive it. He will be damaged forever and I fear he would be a major target. Stanford boy, college kid, college athlete — all the publicity,” she wrote. “It would be a death sentence for him.”
In the three-and-a-half page letter, which she described in the introduction as an opportunity to introduce the judge to “the REAL Brock Turner,” Carleen Turner details her son’s swimming and academic achievements and role in his 6th grade school play, but makes no mention of the victim. The only reference to the assault that Turner was found guilty of is in the description of finding out her son had been arrested.
“We got that fateful call from Brock on Sunday the 18th and our world has been spinning apart ever since,” she wrote.
Turner was found guilty in March on three felony counts for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman behind a dumpster in January of 2015. The sentence carried a potential 14 years, but Persky sentenced him to six months, plus probation. The verdict drew public outcry for its leniency.
In a letter read to Turner at the trial and later shared publicly with BuzzFeed News, the anonymous woman said that she believed Turner had never taken responsibility for his assault against her and had instead blamed his actions on alcohol and “promiscuity.”
"You do not get to shrug your shoulders and be confused anymore,” she wrote. “You have been convicted of violating me, intentionally, forcibly, sexually, with malicious intent, and all you can admit to is consuming alcohol. Do not talk about the sad way your life was upturned because alcohol made you do bad things. Figure out how to take responsibility for your own conduct.”
Turner’s mother finished her letter to the judge by detailing what her son had lost. “His dreams have been shattered by this. No NCAA Championships. No Stanford degree. No swimming in the Olympics (and I honestly know he would have made a future team), no medical school, no becoming an Orthopaedic surgeon.........all gone.”
Turner is filing an appeal in his case and may be released on September 2 after serving three months.
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