Over the weekend, a powerful letter written by a sexual assault victim gained attention worldwide. Now the letter written by the attacker's father to the court has been released.
In the letter, Dan Turner writes of the trauma he claims the conviction has had on his son, pleading for a light sentence from the judge.
Brock Allen Turner, a 20-year-old former Stanford University student, attacked the now 23-year-old woman in January 2015 while she was unconscious and in a public place. He only stopped when two other students came to the victim's aid.
Although he faced a maximum of 14 years in state prison, Turner was sentenced to six months in a county jail and probation.
The judge said handing down a longer sentence would have a "severe impact" on Turner, a champion swimmer.
Turner's victim released a more than 7000-word statement criticising the sentence and shedding light on what advocates say is an epidemic of sexual violence and rape culture on US college campuses.
"It's like if you were to read an article where a car was hit, and found dented, in a ditch. But maybe the car enjoyed being hit. Maybe the other car didn't mean to hit it, just bump it up a little bit. Cars get in accidents all the time. People aren't always paying attention. Can we really say who's at fault?" part of her statement reads.
But now the sexual offender's father has released his own statement defending his son, saying Turner's life has been "deeply altered" by the night of the attack.
Mr Turner claims his son will "never be his happy-go-lucky self" and Turner no longer eats his favourite snacks.
"That is a steep price to pay for 20 minutes of action out of his 20-plus years of life," he wrote.
It's a stark contrast to the victim's statement, in which she wrote:
"After I learned about the graphic details of my own sexual assault, the article listed his swimming times. 'She was found breathing, unresponsive with her underwear six inches away from her bare stomach curled in foetal position. By the way, he's really good at swimming.'"
Mr Turner's statement has infuriated people worldwide, with some taking to social media to share their disgust.
Twitter user Jez Kemp posted an image of the statement that had been "fixed" -- pointing out the damage that had been done to Turner's victim.
"Probation is the best answer for Brock ... to prevent any justice for the woman he raped," Kemp writes.
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