Brock Turner. Mugshot via Santa Clara Sheriff's Department
At this point, pretty much everyone has read the bizarre statements made in defense of Stanford rapist Brock Turner, and enough people have read Judge Aaron Persky's "explanation" for the former Olympic aspirant's lenient six-month jail sentence that the jurist is facing a possible recall campaign. But on Tuesday, the Guardianobtained the statement Turner made to Judge Persky ahead of sentencing, and it's not pretty.As suggested by the victim in her lengthy statement, Turner seems to be in profound denial that what he did constitutes a crime—instead blaming his sexual assault of an unconscious woman behind a dumpster on the "party culture" that was new to him.Oh, and he also blames lots of alcohol."I want to show that people's lives can be destroyed by drinking and making poor decisions while doing so," he claims. "One needs to recognize the influence that peer pressure and the attitude of having to fit in can have on someone. One decision has the potential to change your entire life. I know I can impact and change people's attitudes towards the culture surrounded by binge drinking and sexual promiscuity that protrudes through what people think is at the core of being a college student."Turner's victim told the Guardian that "people need to know that this way of thinking is dangerous. It's threatening. More than my emotions, it's my safety, everyone else's safety. It's not just me feeling sad and defeated. It's honest fear.""It's unacceptable," she added. "There's no way you can wiggle out of this."The convict's letter is high on self-pity and painfully lacks much in the way of contrition."During the day, I shake uncontrollably from the amount I torment myself by thinking about what has happened," Turner continues. "I wish I had the ability to go back in time and never pick up a drink that night, let alone interact with [redacted]. I can barely hold a conversation with someone without having my mind drift into thinking these thoughts. They torture me."The statement, like the one penned by friend Leslie Rasmussen, also attributes responsibility to the toxicity of college campus culture in America. Turner ends by pleading with Judge Persky to grant him probation, promising he'll never be an issue for law enforcement."I've been shattered by the party culture and risk taking behavior that I briefly experienced in my four months at school," he concludes.
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