First, Your Honor,

I have not come to speak to you out of anger or hate for you and the decision you made to sentence a convicted felon 114 months less than the typical sentence for someone who committed the same crime. I have not set out to speak to you to call you names and try to get you removed from your so “honorable” position. I have come to tell you how disappointed I am in your choices. Your position of power is supposed to protect me and all of the other young college aged girls, and you, sir, have failed.

Although you may see yourself in this boy. He is not you and you are not him. You did not assault, rape and then try to flee an alley where behind its dumpster you left a half-naked unconscious young woman. Alone. Using the similarities between you and Brock Turner to justify your extremely lessened sentence barely makes you any less guilty in the fact that you’re allowing this boy the opportunity to hurt another college-aged young woman. I choose to refer to Mr. Turner as a boy because that is what he is, that is how he has made himself look with his actions and the carelessness he shows for the value of other people’s lives.

I believe full heartedly in giving second chances and believing in forgiveness, but on the flip side of this, I also believe that if people truly want forgiveness or are sorry for their actions, they show remorse or guilt. Emotion of any kind. Mr. Turner, though, did not do that. Instead, he focused on himself whenever he spoke out about this incident. He decided to talk about all he had at stake, and in the words of his father, that the “20 minutes of action” that took place between himself and the anonymous victim in early January 2015 do not reflect the type of person he truly is and shouldn’t be taken into consideration when deciding on how severely to punish this human being. As young women, we are always considered to be more vulnerable than the average human being and boys, like Brock, and the situation that is being talked about so much and viscously speculated is terrifying.

Although alcohol can be considered a factor in this terrible situation, it is not the be all, end all reason that makes Brock’s poor decisions and illegal actions OK. Not only did he partake in illegal actions like underage drinking, rape and assault to an unconscious girl, he tried to run away. I don’t know about you, Your Honor, but my parents always taught me to be accountable for my actions. For example, if you were in a rush one day and in the city while you were driving and took off someone’s side view mirror, would you just drive away or would you go and locate the owner of the car? For your sake, I hope you respond to that statement by saying you would locate the owner because that’s being accountable. He’s young and everyone makes mistakes. That’s OK, but these mistakes are inexcusable.

Overall, you are the judge and you have been trusted by the state of California to serve people with the sentences that their actions deserve. After all of the backlash I’m sure you have received by this decision, I hope you realize that you made a poor choice. Mr. Persky, I forgive you for making a bad choice, I just hope you know that what you did was wrong and how scary that is for college girls everywhere.

Now, Dear Mr. Turner,

I am not here to flame the fire of this situation or linger on facts that have been addressed previously. I am not here to tell you to "go to hell," even though that is what some say you deserve. Instead of doing all those things, I want you to understand the situation and all those like it that occur much too frequently, from the young college girl’s standpoint, our standpoint.

Your son, though maybe a different person in your eyes and past, sexually assaulted, raped and took away the soul of another human being. I think forgiveness is extremely important and a vital part of living in peace, but I am also an advocate for getting what you deserve. As a father, you need to open your eyes and view the reality. On that night, your smart little boy took advantage of someone in the most helpless state. You want a good decision to be made for your son? The girl he raped didn’t have a decision. She is another father’s child. A dad’s daughter that he has to watch suffer through waves upon waves of trauma because your boy made a “mistake” that he has “apologized for.” I would never want to look my father in the eye and say I have been raped. I would feel his pain, knowing his daddy’s girl was the most vulnerable she could be.

I don’t know what was running through Brock’s head that night. Yes, he was drinking and yes, he probably wanted to get laid or as you so cruelly put it, partake in “20 minutes of action.” I don’t care how many times you make the argument that he was intoxicated. Alcohol does not cause all people to take advantage of an unconscious human being. That is not on the warning label of the bottles and it is not a symptom. It is a deep-rooted problem inside somebody who is seriously disturbed. So before asking for money or leniency, remember you have a duty as a father to instill values that woman and men are not toys to be fooled with. Their virginity is not a prize to take. You can’t snap off a leg and pop it right back on when you’re ready to play with it again. That’s just not the way reality works. It stays broken, Mr. Turner, because some people care about who is inside of them, and at least knowing about it.

The scars for a young woman, like the victim in question, will never fade. Surgery cannot clean up the mess inside her head and no EKG can find a heart that beats with trust again. Your son was selfish and needs to be punished—no question. Why you would not support someone’s little girl by letting your son free in only six months baffles me and makes me think you need some punishment yourself.

Overall, Mr. Turner, your son and your thoughts on rape is only an example of the overarching problem. Rape, as we’ve all heard it before, is the victim “asking for it.” I didn’t hear the victim say a word, Mr. Turner. No matter how she’s dressed, how much she drank, it is not anyone’s responsibility to benefit from that, especially in the cruel way rapists do. So you can shove your letter, your son’s swimming career and pleads for money and understanding.

Understand this: you broke my father's heart.