The rape committed by Stanford student Brock Turner, or as Brock Turner’s father referred to it, “the events of Jan 17 and 18,” is the most telling incident of how sexual assault is treated in this country. Brock Turner blamed his actions on “party culture” and will spend six months, three on good behavior, in a county jail. Not prison, but jail. In addition to this egregiously lenient “punishment,” the country was also outraged upon the release of a letter written by Brock Turner’s father.

The letter attempts to humanize Brock Turner as his father reflects on his son’s favorite foods, time as a swimmer and the memories they shared. However, not only does the letter attempt to humanize this convicted rapist, but it also tries and obviously fails to victimize him. Brock Turner’s father claims his son has depression now and can hardly enjoy his favorite steaks and snacks like he used to. Brock Turner used to love eating but now “eats only to exist” and his “easy-going personality” is nowhere to be found. Brock Turner’s father actually sat down, gave it some thought and decided writing this down and then reading it in court was a good idea.

This kind of speech is absolutely insulting as it insinuates that Brock Turner, the convicted rapist, is also suffering greatly because of his own actions. Brock Turner is not the victim here, and the very fact that this must be clarified is insulting to victims of sexual assault everywhere. His father comes across completely tone-deaf as he ignores the actual victim completely while explaining why his rapist son is a great student. He refers to his son raping a 23-year-old woman as “the events of Jan 17 and 18” and refers to the actual sexual assault as “20-minutes of action.” Brock Turner’s father uses the phrase “20-minutes of action” repeatedly as if there are people who haven’t done far worse and spent far more time in prison for their own “20-minutes of action.” Not to mention how that phrase grossly neglects the rape his son committed by refusing to mention the crime by name in a shallow attempt to make it seem not as terrible.

*Reminder that this convicted rapist has both a mother and sister*

Now, I have yet to address the bulk of this letter which is dedicated to Brock Turner’s various academic and athletic accomplishments. I addressed this trend already in my article about David Becker, but how in the world does getting a 60-percent tuition scholarship from Stanford or being a former Cub Scout den leader make Brock Turner less likely to rape? It’s absurd to think anyone of Brock Turner’s previous “accomplishments” establish his sexual assault as a quickly forgiven 20-minute mistake. Brock Turner’s father mentions all these things because he thinks it will humanize his son, but all this letter proves is that the father is just as much a part of the problem as the son.

It must also be noted that the judge for Brock Turner’s trial, who was clearly swayed by this offensive letter, is a Stanford graduate. He was the captain of the Stanford lacrosse team, and Brock Turner was on the Stanford swim team. There’s honestly too much wrong with this letter and this sentencing to address in a single article. Brock Turner and his father blamed “party culture” instead of his own egregious judgment and decision-making. No level of drunkenness would ever convince a kind and reasonable human being that rape is acceptable. Brock Turner’s privilege as a white male student-athlete also convinced a judge that prison is too harsh for a convicted rapist. Let me end my rant of obvious truths by saying Brock Turner’s father has failed at every stage of his son’s trial. What this letter truly proves is that Brock Turner deserves far worse than what he received and his father represents a particularly disgraceful section of rape-culture where the rapist is treated more sympathetically than the victim.