Recently, the story of the rape a former Stanford swimmer committed, has created an uproar in the media. Brock Turner was found guilty of three felony counts of sexual assault and was only sentenced to six months in jail. Turner’s shocking sentence has made almost every headline in the past few weeks until the public got a glimpse of his father’s letter to the judge of the case. In this letter, he pleads the judge to have mercy on his son.

He explains how his son no longer enjoys ribeye steak, and how his son, who raped an innocent woman, will be an excellent contributor to society if he is only not given a harsh sentence. As the letter went on, his father wrote in regards to his son's sentence; “ That is a steep price to pay for 20 minutes of action out of his 20 plus years of life.” Yes, you read correctly. Brock Turners father described his son raping an unconscious woman as “20 minutes of action.” Rape is not just getting “action” and the fact that Brock Turners father had the audacity to minimize the concept of rape to simply that is utterly disgusting.

His letter is one of the most selfish, ignorant, pieces of garbage my brain has ever processed. An innocent woman’s life will never be as it once was because of what Brock Turner did to her that night, and his father is defending it. He uses Brock’s accomplishments as a way to dismiss the severity of what his son did on that cold January night. RAPE is RAPE. Being talented, white, wealthy, or any other factors do not make raping someone any less abominable. So Mr. Turner, rape and getting some action are two completely different things and do not equate on any level. You did not take the permanent damage the acts of your son will have on the innocent victim into any consideration and instead were appallingly selfish, focusing solely on protecting your son's reputation. I hope you turn a new leaf and realize that your son deserves exactly what he has coming to him and that the victim, does not deserve any of it.