Dear Mrs. Turner,
Congratulations — you have raised quite a promising athlete, haven't you? He has officially made a mockery of women's rights, created a joke of the justice system, fooled a judge into believing he's absolutely no danger to society AND painted quite the glorified picture of victim.
Since you're oh so proud, let's get a few things straight.
First, your son is a threat, and a very real one at that. He sexually assaulted an unconscious woman behind a dumpster. She said these very words in her statement:
"You don’t know me, but you’ve been inside me, and that’s why we’re here today. Your damage was concrete; stripped of titles, degrees, enrollment. My damage was internal, unseen, I carry it with me. You took away my worth, my privacy, my energy, my time, my safety, my intimacy, my confidence, my own voice, until today.”
When I think of force, internal, permanent damage, followed with the cowardice of leaving someone else to clean up the mess — I can't see the word 'danger' NOT trailing far behind. Your son took a piece — a big one at that — of a young woman's safety and identity. He sacrificed one night of control and entertainment for a changed life and humiliation. I don't care how you choose to justify that, but I certainly wouldn't suggest that a boy that could rip away things like that from someone could ever be deemed safe to lurk around adolescent girls in the near future. He's a real threat — no matter how far you cross that line of justification.
Second, why don't you stop your victim game for just a measly second to turn your "Why him?" into "Why her?" Mrs. Turner, you wrote in a publicized letter, "My first thought upon waking every morning is 'This isn’t real, this can’t be real. Why him? Why HIM? WHY? WHY?'”
Let me get this straight. Your son ruined a life, scarring her for as long as she walks this earth, and has been given grace upon grace in regards to the horrendous act he's committed, and you're still advocating the "Why him?" mentality? Oh, please tell us more about how your poor angel of a son is depressed, distraught and can't eat his "favorite ribeye steak" anymore. Oh, how America must pity his lack of appetite and your sudden lack of interest in redecorating your home.
Third, he isn't entitled to a thing. You begged for grace in his sentence, saying, "He won’t survive it. He will be damaged forever, and I fear he would be a major target. Stanford boy, college kid, college athlete — all the publicity... This would be a death sentence for him."
Let me let you in on something. Your sweet little swimmer lost all his apparent privileges the moment he took advantage of an unconscious woman and made the choice to leave her indecent and defenseless for someone else to worry about. He laid down his right to earn a college degree, hold a job, have a clean record — let him bear the consequences. Come to grips with the fact that he's not a college student, athlete, image of Stanford. He's a rapist that stole and stripped things from someone that were not his to take.
Your darling son laughed at the situation he dug your family into; he even snapped a photo for his friends. He has made it into a joke in more levels than one. So why keep protecting the very sin that he is so very proud of?
To sum up, get over your twisted perception of a son and be a real parent.
Sincerely,
The daughter of a set of parents that don't glorify blatent sin
