Brock Turner, the former Stanford University swimmer who was given a 6-month sentence after sexually assaulting a 23-year-old woman on campus, is being punished for lying about his high school partying habits.
Turner is now required to attend counseling for drugs and alcohol, as well as undergo random drug tests after he was caught lying to a probation officer.
Internal probation department communications obtained by The Associated Press shows Turner will have the new requirements added to his probation before he is released from jail on Sept. 2.
Turner, then-19, sexually assaulted the woman on Jan. 17, 2015. Two PhD students who were riding their bikes found Turner assaulting the woman and intervened. They called the authorities and Turner was arrested that night.
Santa Clara County Judge Aaron Persky sentenced Turner on June 2. The former swimmer was convicted of three felony counts of assault and attempted rape. The initial rape charges were dropped in October 2015.
The judge was criticized that the 6-month sentence was too lenient. He was subsequently taken off another sexual assault case by Santa Clara District Attorney Jeff Rosen.
Probation manager Jana Taylor said Turner will be returned to court and required to attend counseling sessions, in an email on June 15. Taylor said the former swimmer needs counseling and the department doesn’t “want to be placed in a position in the event we violate him for positive tests and his attorney argues we never modified probation to include counseling.”
Persky will not handle the change in Turner’s probation requirements.
In May, Turner had his first interview with a probation officer, in which he lied about using illegal drugs and said he began drinking only after starting his education at Stanford in September 2014.
However, investigators found text messages in his phone in which he talked about using drugs in high school.
Taylor said Turner lied again in an interview on June 14, denying he used illegal drugs and drank alcohol in high school. The text messages were revealed and Turner admitted he lied.
Turner said he used LSD on three occasions, frequently smoked marijuana, and drank alcohol in high school.
During the trial, Turner blamed the assault on college “party culture.”
“Coming from a small town in Ohio, I never really experienced celebrating or partying that involved alcohol,” he said in his letter to Judge Persky.
Turner described himself as a person who was influenced by the college partying culture.
“I’ve been shattered by the party culture and risk taking behavior that I briefly experienced in my four months at school,” he wrote. “I’ve lost my chance to swim in the Olympics. I’ve lost my ability to obtain a Stanford degree. I’ve lost employment opportunity, my reputation and most of all, my life.”
Documents show that Turner asked to be placed in protective custody while in jail after receiving threats.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
