Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Aaron Persky — the judge who, on June 2, sentenced Stanford rapist Brock Turner an unprecedentedly light six-months for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman — is facing due criticism for handing a three-year sentence to an El Salvadoran immigrant for similar crimes.
Raul Ramirez, 32, pleaded guilty in March to sexually assaulting his then-roommate in 2014. According to a Guardian report, Ramirez admitted to sexually assaulting his victim "for about five to 10 minutes against her will ... and stopped only when she started crying." (Turner similarly admitted to assaulting his victim, though said he "remembered consent" in his "drunken state.")
Court documents detailed in the report indicate "Ramirez, like Turner, has no criminal record of convictions for serious or violent felonies."
"Persky could have approved or helped negotiate a bargain in which Ramirez only pleaded guilty to the lesser of two charges he was facing – assault with intent to commit rape," the Guardian said. "If the more serious charge was dropped – as was the case with Turner, who had two rape charges dropped – Ramirez could have potentially avoided prison."
Read the full report over at The Guardian.
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