His ruling meant that Turner, a convicted rapist, could be free inside three months.
Brock Turner, a former student and swimmer at Stanford University, raped an unconscious 23-year-old woman in January 2015, a crime for which he only received a six-month jail sentence.
Turner was caught by two passers-by sexually assaulting the woman, whom he had stripped naked from the waist down, behind a dumpster at a fraternity house.
To see the impact of that, and his crime, read the letter from his victim in full. It’s extremely disturbing.
According to reports from ABC 7 and The Mercury News, Judge Aaron Persky is stepping away from hearing criminal cases after receiving a torrent of criticism following his controversial sentencing.
Persky currently serves in the Santa Clara County Superior Court and they released a statement which reads:
“While I firmly believe in Judge Persky’s ability to serve in his current assignment, he has requested to be assigned to the civil division, in which he previously served. Judge Perky believes the change will aid the public and the court by reducing the distractions that threaten to interfere with his ability to effectively discharge the duties of his current criminal assignment.
“A reassignment is possible due to the request of another judge to relocate to Palo Alto. Although the presiding judge normally implements assignment changes in January of each year, when two judges simply want to swap assignments for which they are both eminently qualified, there is no reason to delay implementation of a change they both desire.”
When Judge Persky handed down Turner’s sentence he controversially remarked that, “a prison sentence would have a severe impact on him (Turner)”.
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