Brock Turner is now the literal textbook definition of ‘rape’

Earlier this month, someone posted an image to Imgur showing the face of convicted rapist Brock Turner next to a description of “rape” in a criminology textbook with the following caption:

My friend found this in a textbook

“He may have been able to get out of prison time but in my Criminal Justice 101 textbook, Brock Turner is the definition of rape, so he’s got that goin for him.” — Friend’s comment

Via Imgur

As the image gained traction on social media, some wondered if it was authentic. But as Snopes.com points out, the Imgur user also posted the name the textbook (Intro to Criminal Justice, 2nd Ed.) and its ISBN number. Snopes looked into it and was able to confirm that the image is indeed real.

“We looked over two digital copies of this textbook, one from Google Books and the other from Amazon, and can confirm that this is a genuine page from a genuine textbook was written by University of Colorado, Denver professor Callie Marie Rennison,” Dan Evon of Snopes writes.

The textbook’s author Callie Marie Rennison said that she’s trying to change the dialogue about crime victims and its perpetrators.

“I’m honored that I can continue to be a part of that change,” she said, according to Snopes. “A major recent way I’ve worked toward that is found in our (with Mary Dodge) Sage textbook Introduction to Criminal Justice: Systems, Diversity and Change. Existing criminal justice books have focused on three elements: cops, courts and corrections. They speak little about victims, reflecting how they have effectively been in the shadows of our criminal justice system. In our book, victims are front and center with equal emphasis as cops, courts and corrections. This is the way it should be.”

Turner, who was a student at Stanford when the incident took place, sexually assaulted a woman who was drunk and unconscious. On January 18th 2015, two Swedish graduate students stumbled upon Turner in a dark area behind a dumpster where he was on top of the woman. The men confronted Turner, who attempted to flee. The men were able to chase him down and hold him until campus police arrived on the scene.

Featured image via Imgur

Sky Palma

Before launching DeadState back in 2012, Sky Palma has been blogging about politics, social issues and religion for over a decade. He lives in Los Angeles and also enjoys Brazilian jiu jitsu, chess, music and art.