A former Stanford University swimmer who was sentenced to six months in jail for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman behind a dumpster on campus has blamed a “party culture and risk-taking behavior” for his actions.
In a letter he penned to Santa Clara Superior Court Judge Aaron Persky, Brock Turner wrote that he was shattered by “the party culture and risk-taking behavior that I briefly experienced in my four months at school.”
Turner said he came from a small town in Ohio and never experienced partying that involved alcohol. But when he started attending Stanford, Turner wrote, he began drinking to relieve the stress of school and competitive swimming.
“The swim team set no limits on partying or drinking and I saw the guys take full advantage of these circumstances, while I was shown to do the same,” he wrote. “I witnessed countless times the guys that I looked up to go to parties, meet girls and take the girl that they had just met back with them.”
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