Aaron Persky, judge in Stanford rape case, target of recall effort

An effort to recall a California judge has mobilized after a former Stanford University student found guilty of sexual assault received what critics contend is a lenient sentence stemming from his privileged status.

At the sentencing, Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Aaron Persky said sentencing Brock Allen Turner, 20, to a lengthier prison sentence “would have a severe impact on him.”

“I think he will not be a danger to others,” Judge Persky said.

Turner, who was found guilty on three counts of felonious sexual assault, ultimately came away with a six-month county jail sentence and three years’ probation, out of a maximum sentence of 14 years in state prison.

An Olympic-caliber swimmer who was on scholarship at the prestigious university before withdrawing, Turner admitted to drinking the night of the assault, but said sex was consensual. He was arrested after two cyclists saw him lying on top of an unconscious, half-naked woman behind a dumpster. They intervened and held Turner until police arrived.

A court statement from the victim, who is only identified as a 23-year-old who did not attend Stanford, was published Monday by BuzzFeed and quickly went viral on social media.

In the 7,244-word remarks, she contended her assailant received a light sentence due to his privilege.

“How fast Brock swims does not lessen the severity of what happened to me, and should not lessen the severity of his punishment,” she said. “If a first-time offender from an underprivileged background was accused of three felonies and displayed no accountability for his actions other than drinking, what would his sentence be?”

In response to the sentence, Michele Dauber, a law professor at Stanford, said she would mount a recall effort against Judge Persky.

“He has made women at Stanford less safe,” Ms. Dauber, who is a family friend of the victim, told the Guardian. “The judge bent over backwards in order to make an exception … and the message to women and students is ’you’re on your own,’ and the message to potential perpetrators is, ’I’ve got your back.’”

Ms. Dauber also posted a statement on Twitter from Turner’s father, who said his son is not “violent” and the jail sentence is a “steep price to pay for 20 minutes of action out of his 20 plus years of life.”

Santa Clara district attorney Jeff Rosen said in a statement that the punishment “did not fit the crime,” noting that Turner failed to show remorse for his actions during the hearing.

“Campus rape is no different than off-campus rape,” Mr. Rosen said. “Rape is rape.”

A petition on Change.org was started after the sentencing, demanding Judge Persky be removed from the bench. The petition has 344,558 supporters.

“Judge Persky failed to see that the fact that Brock Turner is a white male star athlete at a prestigious university does not entitle him to leniency,” the petition states. “He also failed to send the message that sexual assault is against the law regardless of social class, race, gender or other factors.”