SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – A California judge was cleared of misconduct Monday for sentencing a former Stanford University swimmer to six months in jail for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman on campus, a punishment decried as too lenient by critics across the country.
There was no evidence that Santa Clara County Judge Aaron Persky displayed bias in his treatment of Brock Turner, according to the California Commission on Judicial Performance, which investigates complaints of judicial misconduct and disciplines judges.
The panel said it received thousands of complaints demanding Persky be punished over Turner’s sentence, which required the now-21-year-old to register as a sex offender for life.
Turner’s case exploded on social media and ignited a debate about campus rape and the criminal justice system after a powerful statement the victim read during the June 2 sentencing was published online.
Some critics accused the judge of coddling Turner because they were both Stanford athletes or showing gender bias by failing to take campus sexual assault seriously enough. Others say the case underscored inequities in the criminal justice system because Turner could afford a private attorney rather than a public defender.