Dear Mr. Turner,
I understand that you love your son as much as any parent would. And I get that you would do anything to ensure that he has a happy and successful life. But based on the letter that you wrote to the judge presiding over your son's rape case, you clearly don't understand the severity of your son's actions.
When I read your letter for the first time, it took me a few minutes to wrap my mind around your words:
By reading your own words it is clear that you are part of the problem that we call rape culture.
You were part of the problem when you fought your son's victim every step of the way in court, never even acknowledging that your son may have been at fault.
You were part of the problem when the attorneys you hired grilled this young woman on her sex life and drinking patterns, hoping to cause detriment to her character. As if her drunkenness were suddenly a valid reason to rape her.
You were part of the problem when you tried to pin your son's horrific actions on binge drinking. Alcohol didn't rape this woman, Dan. Your son did.
You were part of the problem when you exhausted an entire letter, reflecting on Brock's swim accomplishments and lamenting at the fact that he doesn't like to eat your steaks anymore. Not one mention of your son's victim. I'm sure there are a lot of things that she doesn't enjoy anymore either.
You were part of the problem when you reduced the atrocities that your son committed on that night to "20 minutes of action".
Finally, you were part of the problem when you claimed, "He has not prior criminal history and has never been violent to anyone including his actions on the night of Jan 17th 2015." The last time I checked, dragging an unconscious woman behind a dumpster in an ally and raping her is the definition of violent sexual assault.
After reading this letter it is clear that you and your son are either blatantly unaware of the irreversible pain that this woman has been put through, or you simply just don't care. I don't know which is more disturbing.
Dan Turner, in this letter you failed to even mention this young woman's existence. The only inkling of her presence in this entire correspondence is when you casually refer to her rape as "20 minutes of action."
And, yet, you think that any jail time is too harsh for your all-star son who had so much going for him at Stanford with his swimming. You son perpetuated evil onto another human being and yet he is only serving 6 months. With good behavior he could be out in a few weeks. Your son got off easy, and yet you still think that he did no wrong. That alcohol is entirely to blame.
Your ignorance and lack of compassion for the victim is appalling.
When you stated that Brock wants to use this opportunity to educate other college students on binge drinking and its unfortunate side effects, it is clear that you have failed your son. As his father, you should have taught him from a young age to respect women as people, not as sexual objects. You should have instilled in him that there is no excuse for sexual violence of any kind, no matter how drunk you both are or what she is wearing. You have failed him because he is still clearly not able to see that alcohol is not responsible for his actions. Only he is.
Until you, as his father, can recognize that your son acted like a monster that evening, there can be no resolution on either side. If your son leaves his short sentence learning nothing, then society is no better off. His victim will have gone though this nightmare of a trial having gained nothing.
Correspondences such as this show why young men continue to rape women. Your letter demonstrates that you clearly show no remorse for the loss of this woman's basic dignity. You only show remorse for your son because he got caught. You have attributed to rape culture by dismissing your son's actions as a side effect of a wild night out.
Until fathers like you accept that sexual assault is not for any reason ever OK, or understandable, and instill this into their sons, rapes like this will continue to happen.
