I find myself sad, confused, angry, disappointed and disgusted at the most recent news story that has everyone talking. I’m referring to the story about Brock Turner, the 19 year old who sexually assaulted an unconscious woman at Stanford University and received a six-month jail sentence. After hearing about this case and reading the various letters and statements given by Brock Turner, his family and the victim, I felt compelled to write my own letter to Brock Turner.

Dear Mr. Turner,

You don’t know me but I have heard your story on the news and that is why I am writing you this letter. I have heard what you did to a young woman back on that terrible night in January 2015. I have heard your response and your side of the story. I have read the letter your father wrote to the judge and I have read the letter of the victim you assaulted.

From what I understand, you’re having a pretty tough time with this whole thing, right? You can’t sleep, you’re feeling pretty sad and you can’t even eat your favorite food—steak. That must suck pretty badly. But Mr. Turner, I wonder if you have stopped to think about how the woman you sexually assaulted must feel? You know, the one who you found unconscious and then proceeded to strip naked and put your finger and other foreign objects inside? I don’t think you did try to think about how she feels because if you did, you would be absolutely devastated. You would be shattered. If you thought about the feelings of your victim in any of this, your father wouldn’t have written a letter describing your disgusting assault as a mere “20 minutes of action.” Most importantly, you would take responsibility for the life you ruined instead of blaming it on the culture of alcohol and promiscuity that exists on college campuses.

So, Mr. Turner, I would just like to say to you: be a man. Grow up and be a man. Stop blaming what happened that night on alcohol. Your defense is weak and pathetic. You are weak and pathetic. The majority of people can consume alcohol without it leading to the sexual assault of an unconscious woman. The majority of people would have seen an unconscious woman and tried to get her help. Your reasoning and lack of remorse is so deeply offensive to both men and women. It suggests men can’t control themselves around women when alcohol is involved and suggests that the victim is to blame for being assaulted if she is dressed a certain way or is drinking. You should be ashamed of yourself for implying such a thing. You brutally sexually assaulted an unconscious woman and no one but yourself is to blame. I understand that you came from a privileged background. Your father’s insensitive and moronic letter made that painfully clear. That does not give you an excuse for what you did. Any sane person should have known better.

The judge said a longer sentence would have a “severe impact” on you. I had to laugh at this because isn’t that what jail is supposed to do—have a severe impact on someone so they don’t commit another crime? So, unfortunately, despite being convicted by a jury on three sexual assault charges, you will only serve six months in jail. In your statement to the judge, you spoke only about how the events of that night in January have affected you. However, in the laughably short amount of time you will serve in jail, I implore you to think about your victim. Think about what you did to her. Think about the message that your lenient sentence sends. Think about how you would feel if you had a daughter and this happened to her or if this happened to your mother. Think about anyone besides yourself for once in your life. Do this, and own up to what you did.

The only thing I have left to say to you is, while you may think you came out on top because you received such a lenient sentence, you are wrong. You lost. You were defeated. Despite the fact that you have a father who entitled you your whole life, despite the judge who couldn’t see past the fact that you are a white, male athlete at a top university, despite the fact that you robbed a young woman of her safety and comfort in her own body and got away with it, you lost. Because the emotional, searing, beautiful and courageous letter that your victim wrote has been read by millions of people. It has sparked outrage at your sentence and ignited the country, causing it to defend her and all victims of sexual abuse. It has started a conversation on how far the country still needs to go in defending victims of sexual assault. As your victim said, “you were the cause” and the effect has been an outpouring of love and support for a young woman whose life was altered forever and a realization that so much still needs to be done to protect victims. Hopefully, this effect leads us one step closer to this never happening again.