Brock Turner banned for life by USA Swimming
By John Buhler
Brock Turner, the convicted rapist formerly of the Stanford Cardinals, has been banned for life by USA Swimming following his rape trial conviction.
On Friday, USA Swimming told USA Today Sports that former Stanford Cardinal swimmer and convicted rapist Brock Turner would never be allowed to participate in any USA Swimming sanctioned event for life, as he is now permanently banned from the sport.
USA Swimming spokesperson Scott Leightman wrote this in an email to USA Today, “Brock Turner’s membership with USA Swimming expired at the end of the calendar year 2014. He was not a member at the time of his crime or since then….should he apply, he would not be eligible for membership…Had he been a member, he would be subject to the USA Swimming Code of Conduct. USA Swimming strictly prohibits and has zero tolerance for sexual misconduct.”
Turner was recently sentenced by controversial judge Aaron Persky, whose light punishment for Turner set the social media world ablaze: six months for raping an unconscious female victim next to a dumpster back in 2015.
Twenty jurors have reportedly refused to hear a case that Persky is presiding over since the Turner sentencing. There has even been some talk that Turner may only end up serving three months of his six-month sentence in prison. Persky’s mis-judgement in hearing this case largely stems on his belief that a longer prison sentence would negatively affect Turner’s livelihood.
Not only will Turner have to report as a convicted sex offender anywhere he lives for the rest of his life, but any dreams he had of representing the United States of America in a Summer Olympic Games have been understandably dashed given the horrendous nature of his blatant sex crime. With USA Swimming doing the right thing and banning Turner from competition for life, Persky’s judgement will be under further scrutiny and rightfully so.
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