Here is the letter from Brook Turner’s father:
As it stands now, Brock’s life has been deeply altered forever by the events of Jan 17th and 18th. He will never be his happy go luck self with that easy going personality and welcoming smile. His every waking minute is consumed with worry, anxiety, fear, and depression. You can see this in his face, the way he walks, his weakened voice, his lack of appetite. Brock always enjoyed certain types of food and is a very good cook himself. I was always excited to buy him a big ribeye steak to grill or to get his favorite snack for him. I had to make sure to hides some of my favorite pretzels or chips because I knew that they wouldn’t be around long after Brock walking in from a long swim practice. Now he barely consumes any food and eats only to exist. These verdicts have broken and shattered him and our family in so many ways. His life will never be the one that he dreamed about and worked so hard to achieve. That is the steep price to pay for 20 minutes of action out of his 20 plus years of life. The fact that he now has to register as a sexual offender for the rest of his life forever alters where he can live, visit, work, and how he will be able to interact with people and organizations. What I know as his father is that incarceration is not the appropriate punishment for Brock. he has no prior criminal history and has never been violent to anyone including his actions on the night of Jan 17th 2015. Brock can do so many positive things as a contributor to society and its totally committed to educating other college age students about the dangers of alcohol consumption and sexual promiscuity. By having people like Brock educate others on college campuses is how society can begin go break the cycle of binge drinking and its unfortunate results. Probation is the best answer for Brock in this situation and allows him to give back to society in a net positive way.
Very Respectfully,
Dan A. Turner
There are a number of troubling aspects of the letter.
- ZERO mentions of the victim in this letter.
- Life altering events and tragedies happen in a blink of an eye.
- Rape IS a violent act.
5 minutes is enough to create destruction
Not to sensationalize or compare the Stanford rape with Sandy Hook, but more to make a point. The Sandy Hook shooting took 26 victims lives in a 5 minute period.
A legacy of narcissism?
For all I know Mr. Turner may be a great guy and wonderful family man, but his letter demonstrates an utter lack of empathy. He projects a sense that the world is the playground for him and his family. The letter shows he is blind to how his son’s actions have caused harm and damage far greater that his son is experiencing. There is no excuse for this oversight. He had plenty of time to craft, edit, and consider his letter before sending it out.
We need to be better role models
None of us are perfect. Mr. Turner’s letter is a watershed moment for parents. We must be better role models to our children. We must instill in them the understanding that under no circumstance is it OK for us to willingly harm others for our own pleasure. For our sons, we need to teach respect to all women. For our daughters, we need to provide them confidence and support that they should never tolerate unwanted sexual abuse. We need to do this with our actions and our words. These values are woefully lacking in Mr. Turner’s letter.
