The father of the Stanford University swimmer convicted of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman is coming under fire on blogs and social media for playing down the attack as “20 minutes of action” during a public statement at the swimmer’s sentencing on Sunday.
Judge Aaron Persky, who sentenced Brock Allen Tuer to a six-month prison sentence, is also getting some heat after Persky said “jail would have a severe impact on” Tuer.
Tuer, 20, was found by two students on top of an unconscious woman by a dumpster in January 2015. Prosecutors said Tuer met the woman at a party and sexually assaulted her after she passed out from intoxication. Police officers said the woman was unresponsive and partially clothed.
Tuer faced up to 14 years in prison, a sentence his father, Dan Tuer, argued against.
“That is a steep price to pay for 20 minutes of action out of his 20 plus years of life,” Dan said at his son’s sentencing hearing.
Persky cited Tuer’s youth and lack of criminal record as part of his reasoning for imposing the six-month sentence.
“I think he will not be a danger to others,” Persky said.
The woman Tuer assaulted had much stronger words for the former swimming star when she read her victim impact statement in court prior to Tuer’s sentencing.
“You took away my worth, my privacy, my energy, my time, my safety, my intimacy, my confidence, my own voice, until today,” the 23-year-old woman said, The Washington Post reported. “The damage is done, no one can undo it. And now we both have a choice. We can let this destroy us, I can remain angry and hurt and you can be in denial, or we can face it head on: I accept the pain, you accept the punishment, and we move on.”