Dad Writes Powerful Response to Brock Turner's Father
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Brock Turner may have the sympathy of his father and childhood friend, but one dad is not giving the 20-year-old Stanford University swimmer a free pass.
John Pavlovitz, a blogger based in North Carolina, is gaining lots of attention on social media for his powerful blog post titled "To Brock Turner’s Father, From Another Father." Pavlovitz's post comes after Brock Turner's father, Dan Turner penned a sympathetic letter insinuating that his son's six-month sentence behind bars was a "steep price to pay for 20 minutes of action out of his 20 plus years of life." Brock Turner was convicted on three felony counts for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman behind a dumpster.
Pavlovitz, who has a son himself, wrote that it's important to remember who the victim in this situation really is: the woman who was sexually assaulted by Brock Turner:
"This young woman will be dealing with this for far longer than the embarrassingly short six months your son is being penalized. She will endure the unthinkable trauma of his '20 minutes of action' for the duration of her lifetime, and the fact that you seem unaware of this fact is exactly why we have a problem.
"This is why young men continue to rape women.
"This is why so many men believe that they can do whatever they please to a woman’s body without accountability."
Pavlovitz also wrote that "only raping one person" during a lifetime is nothing to be applauded:
"The idea that your son has never violated another woman next to a dumpster before isn’t a credit to his character. We don’t get kudos for only raping one person in our lifetime. I don’t believe your son is a monster but he acted like one and that needs to be accounted for. To be sure, this decision is not the sum total of Brock’s life, but it is an important part of the equation and it matters deeply."
Pavlovitz added that there is "no scenario where your son should be the sympathetic figure here":
"He is the assailant. He is the rapist. I can’t [imagine] as a father how gut wrenching such a reality is for you, but it is still true."
He wrapped up the piece by asking Dan Turner to love his son "enough to teach him to own the terrible decisions he’s made, to pay the debt to society as prescribed, and then to find a redemptive path to walk, doing the great work in the world that you say he will."
The collective internet has branded Brock Turner as a rapist. It is important to note that though Turner was originally charged with five counts, the prosecutors dropped "rape of an intoxicated person and rape of an unconscious person," according to Palo Alto Online. He was convicted on three felony counts of sexual assault and not convicted of rape.
Pavlovitz's post has received a lot of support from readers.
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Read Pavlovitz's full letter on his website.
