Dear Dan Turner

Let’s break this down chunk by chunk.

“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 lucky self with that easy going personality and welcoming smile.”

If Brock has any conscience and morality at all, then I should hope that his life has been deeply altered by the events. If his “self” is a person who commits sexual assault and digital rape, then maybe it is good that he will never be himself again.

“His every waking minute is consumed with worry, anxiety, fear, depression. You can see this in his face, the way he walks, his weakened voice, his lack of appetite.”

And how do you think she feels?

“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 hide some of my favorite pretzels or chips because I knew they wouldn’t be around long after Brock walked in from a long swim practice. Now he barely consumes any food and eats only to exist.”

How is this relevant? Are we supposed to feel sympathy for Brock because he snacks less? Are these statements a pathetic attempt to lessen the sentence, as if Brock has suffered enough because he doesn’t eat snacks and ribeye steaks anymore? This isn’t an eating disorder, because he is clearly eating enough. And, as one Twitter user pointed out in regards to stealing the snacks, he obviously has a history of taking what he wants.

“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.”

Take a minute to stop and think about her and her family. Think of all the times she has had to recount her story for legal purposes. Every time she brings it up, imagine the pain that she feels. And yes, he may have worked hard to achieve his dream, but that does not excuse him from being held accountable for his actions. Do you think that Brock is exempt from the law because he had a dream and he worked hard? Actions have consequences—this is how the world works.

“That is a steep price to pay for 20 minutes of action out of his 20 plus years of life.”

A lot of the internet has misinterpreted this “action” as the sexual colloquialism “action.” Given the nature of the crime, it really was a poor word choice; but it seems to just mean “20 minutes of an event.” Regardless, however, the length of time of the offense is irrelevant. Mass shooters may engage in their “action” for 5 minutes, but they still face serious consequences. And yes, crimes such as sexual assault and digital rape do indeed merit harsh consequences with a steep price to pay.

“The fact that he now has to register as a sexual offender for the rest of this life forever alters where he can live, visit, work, and how he will be able to interact with people and organizations.”

Yes, it does. That’s how it works. Brock made a choice, and now he must live with the consequences of this choice.

“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.”

Since you are his father, you somehow understand justice better than any jury or judge. Seems legit. It doesn’t matter whether this was Brock’s first, second, third, or sixteenth crime; Brock broke the law, and the victim is forced to cope with what Brock did to her. Also, his actions on January 17th, 2015 were not violent?? What the actual fuck? What were they, then?

“Brock can do so many positive things as a contributor to society and is 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 to break the cycle of binge drinking and its unfortunate results.”

What about this case makes Brock at all qualified to educate others about binge drinking and sexual promiscuity? Besides, this case is not about binge drinking and sexual promiscuity; it is about rape. Yes, alcohol was indeed a factor, but millions of people get drunk every weekend and are able to not rape others. Also, who are you claiming the sexually promiscuous one is? Your son, or his victim? How about we change it to say, “By having people like Brock’s father educate their children in the home is how society can begin to break the cycle of rape culture and its devastating results.”

“Probation is the best answer for Brock in this situation and allows him to give back to society in a net positive way.”

“Net positive,” as if the positive actions that Brock may take in the future will somehow neutralize and undo what he did to the victim. You know, Brock can still give back to society after serving a term in prison, too.

“Very Respectfully,
Dan A. Turner”

Shut up.