Judge in Stanford rape case receives death threats

A California judge criticised for giving what many say is a too-lenient sentence to a Stanford student convicted of sexual assault has been bombarded by threats of violence against him and his family.

Judge Aaron Persky sentenced Brock Allen Turner (20), to six months in jail and three years of probation for three felony counts: assault with intent to commit rape of an intoxicated/unconscious person, penetration of an intoxicated person and penetration of an unconscious person.

Threatening phone calls have flooded into the Santa Clara County Superior Court since then, said Gary Goodman, a supervising attorney for the county public defender's office.

“People have been calling the court and leaving messages, and if someone answers, they say, ‘Tell your judge he can go to hell, and I hope his kids get raped and he rots in hell,’” said Mr Goodman, “He’s getting threats over this, him and his family, from all over the country. Is that right?”

The victim, who was not a Stanford student, had attended a fraternity party. Two Swedish graduate students riding past on bicycles witnessed the assault and intervened to stop it, chasing and tackling Turner when he fled.

“She was unconscious the entire time,” one of the students, Carl Frederik Arndt, told CBS News. “The guy ran away, and my friend Peter chased after him.”

The case attracted national attention on Friday after BuzzFeed published a powerful 7,244-word courtroom statement by the victim, who detailed how the trauma had affected her and her family, and argued that male and class privilege had irrevocably marred both the trial and the sentencing.

She also wrote that she hopes to meet her rescuers, who she calls “heroes.” She also wrote that she was told one of the men was crying because he was so upset over what he saw and the state she was in.

“Thank you to the two men who saved me, who I have yet to meet,” she wrote. “I sleep with two bicycles that I drew taped above my bed to remind myself there are heroes in this story. That we are looking out for one another. To have known all of these people, to have felt their protection and love, is something I will never forget.”

The furore grew after Michele Dauber, a Stanford law professor and sociologist, tweeted a statement by the defendant’s father complaining that his son’s life had been ruined for “20 minutes of action.”

Judge Persky was also excoriated for his comments about the defendant. In citing factors weighed in the sentencing, The Guardian reported, the judge said Turner had “less moral culpability” for his actions because he was intoxicated, and he had “no significant record of prior criminal offences”.

The judge also appeared to suggest that the jail sentence might be an “antidote” to the anxiety the former student had suffered from the intense media attention.

He told the courtroom, according to reports: “A prison sentence would have a severe impact on him. I think he will not be a danger to others.”

And seeming to accept the defendant’s account, he said: “I take him at his word that subjectively that’s his version of his events. ... I’m not convinced that his lack of complete acquiescence to the verdict should count against him.”

Because of his conviction, Turner has to register as a sex offender.

A Change.org petition backing the judge’s removal had collected more than 400,000 signatures by Tuesday. In order to successfully remove the judge, the recall campaign said it would need the signatures of at least 20 per cent of the votes cast in November in Santa Clara County.

The New York Times