Brock Turner: He Sexually Assaulted an Unconscious Woman. He Served Three Months.

 

Brock Turner: He Sexually Assaulted an Unconscious Woman. He Served Three Months.

In January 2015, Brock Turner, then a Stanford University student and swimmer, sexually assaulted Chanel Miller while she was unconscious outside a fraternity party.

Two graduate students saw what was happening. When they confronted Turner, he ran. They chased him down and restrained him until police arrived.

A jury later convicted Turner of three felony sexual-assault charges.

He faced a possible prison sentence of up to 14 years. Prosecutors asked for six.

Judge Aaron Persky sentenced him to six months in county jail and three years of probation, citing concerns about the impact a longer sentence could have on Turner.

He served three months.

The sentence ignited national outrage, particularly after Miller's powerful victim-impact statement became public. California lawmakers subsequently changed state law to require prison terms in certain sexual assaults involving unconscious or intoxicated victims.

Voters also recalled Persky in 2018, making him the first California judge recalled in more than 80 years.

For years, the public knew Miller only as an anonymous victim.

Then she reclaimed her name.

Chanel Miller.

She survived the assault. She survived the courtroom. And she refused to let the man who assaulted her, or the system that gave him three months in jail, own the rest of her story.