Female Dem reads Stanford victim’s statement on House floor

The emotional statement from the victim of a sexual assault case at Stanford University was read aloud on the House floor on Thursday.

Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) spent most of a five-minute floor speech reading aloud from the statement that the victim, who has chosen not to make her name public, delivered at a hearing where the attacker was sentenced to only six months in jail.

Brock Turner, a student athlete who once appeared poised to qualify for the Olympics, received a six-month sentence in county jail and will have to register as a lifetime sex offender. The sentence has drawn widespread outrage given that Turner could have received up to 14 years in state prison for sexually assaulting the unconscious woman behind a dumpster at a fraternity party.

{mosads}The victim provided her statement to BuzzFeed late last week, and since then the page has accumulated more than 13 million views.

Speier began her speech by imploring for a change in attitudes toward sexual assault cases.

“Our justice system must become better than this. Our educational system must become better than this,” Speier said.

A California jury found Turner guilty on three counts: intent to commit rape of an intoxicated person, sexually penetrating an intoxicated person with a foreign object and sexually penetrating an unconscious person with a foreign object. Two graduate students riding past on their bicycles caught Turner in the act and tackled him after he tried to run away.

Judge Aaron Persky sentenced Turner last week to six months in county jail, saying that he was concerned a longer period in jail would have a “severe impact” on him.

Speier then proceeded to read excerpts of the victim’s statement, which runs more than 7,000 words, questioning why Turner deserved a relatively lenient sentence.

“How fast Brock swims does not lessen the severity of what happened to me, and should not lessen the severity of his punishment. If a first time offender from an underprivileged background was accused of three felonies and displayed no accountability for his actions other than drinking, what would his sentence be? The fact that Brock was an athlete at a private university should not be seen as an entitlement to leniency, but as an opportunity to send a message that sexual assault is against the law regardless of social class,” Speier read.

The California Democrat then read the end of the victim’s statement.

“To girls everywhere, I am with you. On nights when you feel alone, I am with you. When people doubt you or dismiss you, I am with you. I fought everyday for you. So never stop fighting, I believe you.”

“I hope that by speaking today, you absorbed a small amount of light, a small knowing that you can’t be silenced, a small satisfaction that justice was served, a small assurance that we are getting somewhere, and a big, big knowing that you are important, unquestionably, you are untouchable, you are beautiful, you are to be valued, respected, undeniably, every minute of every day, you are powerful and nobody can take that away from you,” Speier concluded.

Moments earlier on the House floor, Rep. Ted Poe (R-Texas) called for overturning the sentence given to Turner and for removing the judge overseeing the case.

“The judge should be removed. The rapist should do more time for the dastardly deed that he did that night,” said Poe, a former judge himself.

Poe also tore into Turner’s father, who has further fueled the public outrage over the sentencing after writing a letter to the judge arguing that the verdict was “a steep price to pay for 20 minutes of action out of his 20 plus years of life.”

Turner is appealing the sentence that the judge granted him last week.

“Clearly, Brock is a chip off the old block and Daddy will never be named father of the year,” Poe said with disgust.