TRIGGER WARNING: This post contains details of sexual assault that may be distressing to some readers.
Prior to being sentenced, the mother of convicted rapist, Brock Turner, wrote an impassioned letter to the judge presiding over the case, claiming her son “will never know happiness again”.
Judge Aaron Persky gave Carleen Turner the opportunity to write a letter, introducing the “REAL” Brock Turner, where she painted him as the real victim of the whole situation.
“Thank-you for the opportunity to write a letter and introduce you to my son, Brock Turner- the REAL Brock Allen Turner,” his mother wrote.
“I am abundantly proud to call him my son; he is my heart, my soul, and brings me great joy…He always had a smile on his face, a shy grin that was so endearing. I use past tense in referring to his smile because since the verdict, he has not smiled. The expression on his face is one of pure pain and anguish. It is heart-breaking.”
Watch our thank you to the men who stopped Brock Turner. (Post continues after video.)
Turner goes on to write about her son’s childhood, where he was the boy with a “strict work ethic and drive”. As a scout, he would sell popcorn around the neighbourhood and once sat with a 90-year-old lady and just talked to her.
She paints Turner as the idyllic child: hard-working, polite, respectful.
“He wasn’t a kid to pound the water, to shove a fist up in the air to celebrate loudly- he never, ever did that,” she wrote about his attitude towards swimming. “When he won a race, he always waited for every swimmer to finish and he would shake everyone’s hand. He was never arrogant, cocky, or boastful.”
“…Brock made many sacrifices while in high school due to the demands of the swimming schedule; the only football games he attended were Homecoming and he never attended a basketball game. He missed out on many social activities as well. He did hang out with his swimmer friends on weekends but because of their early mornings, they were never out late.
“He has a very kind and thoughtful side to him. He always went out of his way to do special things for his girlfriend. Asking a girl to the dances is a big deal around here.
“For Homecoming senior year, we had a new black lab puppy and [she] just loved the pup. Brock put a sign around Zeke’s neck with “Homecoming?” on it-that was how he asked her and [she] loved it. However, his ‘prom-posal’ was the talk of their class; Brock knew [she] had big expectations and he was having a tough time coming up with a good way to ask her.
“She invited him to a Dayton Dragons baseball game (the are a Cincinnati Reds farm team) and he called the Dragons to see if they would put “[Name] will you go to prom with me?” on the Jumbotron scoreboard. They did this and during the 3rd inning, [she] was asked to prom!”
Broke Turner.
Further in the letter, Turner goes on to the describe how kindhearted Brock was towards the "disenfranchised members of our society", which allegedly began from caring for his "mentally retarded" uncle.
"This continued on through high school when he participated with the Oakwood Adapted Athletics (Special Olympics) swim team. He served as an able-bodied partner with the Special Olympians. I will never forget the final meet during his senior year. One of the swimmers, a boy named Theodor, wanted a blue ribbon more than anything. Brock promised him that their relay would get a blue ribbon. Well, the first relay they swam they came in 2nd. This was the ONLY time in swimming that I ever saw Brock upset after a race.
"He did not want to let Theodor down. They had one more relay and Brock made sure they came in first so Theodor got his blue ribbon! I have always been so proud of Brock for participating with the Special Olympics team during high school. It is very near and dear to my heart and he did it because he genuinely cared for the kids."
Referring to the day she first out about what Brock had done (or his version of events), Turner says their world has been "spinning apart ever since".
"We will never be happy again. Those happy family times are gone forever, replaced by despair, fear, depression, anxiety, doubt, and dread. I don’t think I have been able to take a deep breath since this happened. My first thought upon wakening every morning is “this isn’t real, this can’t be real. Why him? Why HIM? WHY? WHY?” I have cried every single day since Jan. 18.
"This is on my mind every moment. But in the months leading up to the trial, we had hope. Brock told us what happened and his accounting of the events of that night never changed from the first time he told us everything.
"He was a shy and awkward 19-year old, far away from home trying to fit in with the swimmers he idolized. He is the most trust-worthy and honest person I know. He was telling the truth.
"...Brock is a shattered and broken shell of the person he used to be. My once vibrant and happy boy is distraught, deeply depressed, terribly wounded, and filled with despair. His smile is gone forever-that beautiful grin is no more. When I look into his eyes I see fear and anguish. His voice is barely above a whisper and he keeps himself hunched over almost trying not to be noticed. He trembles uncontrollably. He is crushed that the jury ruled against him. He has lost so much weight because he barely eats anything.
"He is utterly terrified and traumatized by this. We are devastated beyond belief. My beautiful, happy family will never know happiness again. We all love Brock so much and to see him in this much pain and agony is indescribable."
Turner ended the letter begging the judge to see the apparent gravity of the sentence already imposed upon Brock, claiming all the lost chances he is suffering.
"Your honor, I beg of you to show Brock mercy. He has never been in trouble, never even had a demerit in high school, he studied, swam, worked hard-he has lived and exemplary life. He will contribute to society in a positive way, it will just be a different path now. Please send him a message that his life still has meaning, that you believe in him. Please give him hope.
"His life is forever impacted and drastically altered by the ramifications of these guilty verdicts. Ohio is on of the strictest states with the sexual offender registry. Brock will have to register at the highest tier which means he is on the same level as a pedophile/child molester. There is no differentiation. The public records will reflect a Tier 3 so people will wrongly assume he is a child molester. I fear for his lifelong safety.
"So he, at the tender age of 20, now will have to register every 60 days for the rest of his life. He will live a lifetime of scrutiny, he lost 2 jobs just because he was accused of this, now he faces of lifetime of struggling for decent work. Can he be on a college campus. I don’t know. He WILL earn a college degree even if he had to do it 100% online. If he ever has children, he won’t be able to take them to a public park and push them on a swing, he won’t be able to volunteer at their school, he won’t be able to teach Sunday school, he won’t be able to be their Scout leader, he won’t be able to coach them, he won’t be able to chaperone a class field trip or help with a homeroom party……..this is his future life. I beg of you, please don’t send him to jail/prison. Look at him. He won’t survive it.
"He will be damaged forever and I fear he would be a major target. Stanford boy, college kid, college athlete- all the publicity……..this would be a death sentence for him. Having lost everything he has ever worked for his entire life and knowing the registry is a requirement for the rest of his life certainly is more than harsh. His dreams have been shattered by this. No NCAA Championships. No Stanford degree, No swimming in the Olympics (and I honestly know he would have made a future team), no medical school, no becoming an Orthopedic surgeon……..all gone."
IF this post or any of the comments bring up any issues for you, or if you need to speak to someone please call 1800-RESPECT or the NSW Rape Crisis Centre on 1800 424 017. It does not matter where about you live in Australia, they will take your call and, if need be, refer you to a service closer to home.
Top Comments
There is a kind of worship that goes on between mothers and sons, isn't there. That is what has caused this. I feel for this mother but her worship of him has led to this event. The fact he was part of the elite sporting community, which often allocates itself god-like status, led to this. Not focusing on the victim and their remorse for her, rather than his family lamenting the effect on him, led to this. A judge continuing the boys-club mentality of protecting their own ivy-league/blue blood/wealthy networks, led to this. Boys being boys, led to this.
So many lessons are available to us, from this one event. Let's learn from them.
Dear Mom,
Start facing reality your son did these rapes! No one twisted his arms to commit these rapes! You can't blame yourself because he is a grown man and as such he knows what is exceptable and what is not exceptable behavior in our society! He knew what he was doing was against the law and committed assault against these women. You can't blame alcohol either because as an adult he should have figured out how much he can drink before he starts making judgement mistakes!
As much as you love him he is a grown man. You also need to except that what he did to these three women is the worst kind of violation that can happen! As a woman you should realize it. Yes, as a Mother you want to not believe what he has done but for your sake you need to accept and realize you can't make excuses or claim all these wonderful things. Yes, they were wonderful for him when he did them but, they do not excuse his actions. Nor do they out weigh his first act of rape or the next. By your not excepting his responsibility for his actions and not recognizing the gravity of his crimes that he's committed these crimes you will not make him face up to it. Whether he gets help or not he has marked himself for life. In reality he is a serial rapist who will probably commit this crime again.
You need to think about the emotional damage and physical damage to these women who will be dealing with the physical and emotional violations for the rest of there lives. Maybe they will also realize that you can't go out and drink and make yourselves vulnerable to a preditors who look for a quick and easy lay with women who won't be able to fight back. Unfortunately for you that is what your son is!
He's dam lucky he got such a light sentence. Maybe you should start praying that he doesn't do it again because either he will end up dead next time or caught and locked up for the rest of his life!
U