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Victim Reads Powerful Letter to Ex-Stanford Swimmer Who Sexually Assaulted Her

HeadlineJun 06, 2016

And a former Stanford University swimmer convicted of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman has been sentenced to six months in jail after the judge expressed concern a longer sentence would have “a severe impact on him.” Brock Allen Turner was caught by two witnesses thrusting on top of the victim as she lay unconscious behind a dumpster. In a packed California court, the victim read aloud what the local prosecutor called ”the most eloquent, powerful and compelling piece of victim advocacy that I’ve seen in my 20 years as a prosecutor.” She began by recounting how she woke up in a hospital with pine needles in her hair, her underwear missing and no idea what had happened to her. “You took away my worth, my privacy, my energy, my time, my intimacy, my confidence, my own voice, until today,” she read, addressing her rapist directly. “You bought me a ticket to a planet where I lived by myself.” She concluded her statement with a message to survivors everywhere: “On nights when you feel alone, I am with you. When people doubt you or dismiss you, I am with you. I fought everyday for you. So never stop fighting, I believe you.”

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