The California judge criticized for giving a short sentence to former Stanford University swimmer Brock Turner for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman didn’t give the same leniency to an immigrant charged with a similar crime.
Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Aaron Persky will hand Raul Ramirez, 32, originally from El Salvador, a three-year prison sentence for sexually assaulting his female roommate, according to documents obtained by the Guardian.
Ramirez admitted in March to penetrating his roommate with his fingers for five to 10 minutes in November 2014 and that he only stopped when she broke down crying. He received the minimum sentence for his particular crime.
Ramirez took responsibility for the assault as soon as police arrived, according to the Guardian. “Ramirez knew what he did was wrong and he wanted to say sorry,” an officer wrote following the arrest.
The blond, blue-eyed Turner, 20, was sentenced in June to mere months behind bars, despite being convicted of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman by a dumpster near a fraternity.
Turner stopped only when two bikers saw him aggressively “thrusting” against the limp victim.
Unlike Ramirez, Turner, a star athlete, did not fess up to the assault and instead blamed drinking and party culture while maintaining the sex act was consensual.
“My poor decision making and excessive drinking hurt someone that night and I wish I could just take it all back,” he said when sentenced.
Turner may be a free man as soon as Sept. 2, after Persky determined a longer stint behind bars would have a “severe impact” on him. Prosecutors had asked that the student be dealt a six-year sentence.
Persky cited Turner’s lack of a prior criminal record as a reason for his light sentencing. But court records show that Ramirez also had no prior criminal history.
The major difference between the two cases appears to be only that Ramirez is poor, the Guardian reported. His bail was set $50,000 higher than Turner’s bail and he required the help of a Spanish interpreter in court. It is not clear whether Ramirez was an illegal immigrant.
Critics say that Persky, a former Stanford athlete himself, was biased in his decision-making.
Ramirez’s harsher sentence “shows that Turner got consideration not available to other defendants who aren’t as privileged,” said Stanford professor Michele Landis Dauber, who is spearheading a recall campaign against Persky.
Following the Turner conviction, Persky was removed from a sexual assault case after the district attorney’s office said it lacked confidence in his judgment.
Over a million people have signed a petition demanding that Persky be removed from his role.
Ramirez’s lawyer told the Guardian that the stark difference in sentencing may come from the fact that Ramirez’s victim was conscious during the crime, something treated by California law as a greater offense.
The Turner case inspired a new bill which would also require a three-year minimum sentence for those convicted of raping an unconscious person.