Rape Convict Brock Allen Turner in Protective Custody to Avoid Harm by Other Inmates
Jail Officials Said Turner Will Also Have a Deputy Escort
The former Stanford swimmer who was convicted for raping an unconscious woman is now under protective custody while in jail after authorities fear that his fellow inmates could beat him.
Brock Allen Turner will serve his six-month sentence at the Santa Clara County Jail in protective custody, TMZ revealed. The move was done by jail officials who want to keep the convicted rapist away from harm.
He is said to be detained in an area of the facility far from where most of the inmates are kept. Turner also has a designated escort when he comes out of his cell or go around the jail's ground.
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A representative of the jail told TMZ that he will only be able to mingle with inmates who are also under protective custody like those convicted of sexual assault, gang dropouts and LGBT detainees. "They're kept totally separate ... so they aren't harmed," the jail representative added.
The facility, however, clarified that keeping him under close watch and separate from most of the inmates, was not because his case is a high-profile one but that individuals convicted of sexual assault are usually the common targets of other inmates.
Turner was earlier given a six-month jail sentence for raping a knocked out woman behind a dumpster in California in January last year. Many people criticized the decision as "lenient" and that it was too far from the six-year jail term that prosecutors were asking for, CNN added.
People were also enraged with the letter of Turner's father to Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Aaron Persky saying that his son should not be punished gravely for "20 minutes of action." Despite the negative feedback, the judge stood by his decisions saying that he will not pose threat to others. "A prison sentence would have a severe impact on him," Persky noted.
Even if it was just a six-month jail term, the San Francisco Chronicle explained that the sentence is no bargain and not lenient at all considering that the place is tagged as a lion's den for convicted individuals.
Tagging it as one of the most dysfunctional facilities in California, the same report said that the Santa County Jail is a notorious place where three prison guards were previously charged with murder and complaints of physical abuse abound.
Turner will be surrounded by more than 3,000 inmates who are facing various criminal charges. Most of these inmates could also be parents that feel very protective of their children, and reportedly do not like sex offenders like Turner.
