Stanford Sexual Assault Case Could Rewrite California Rape Law
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - California lawmakers looking to redefine rape after they a Stanford athlete received what they consider a light sentence after a sexual assault.
"I'm upset, I'm angry," said Assemblyman Mike Gatto. "You know, imagine somebody going through this and then having to see their perpetrator walk out of jail in six months or less."
Earlier this month, 20-year-old Brock Turner was sentenced after sticking his finger inside of a woman passed out in the street. He received six months in county jail for three felony counts of sexual assault.
"I don't think that's right, I don't think the majority of Californians think it's right," Gatto said.
Gatto and other lawmakers believe the definition of rape is too narrow.
"There are many acts that somebody can do that can violate an individual, but California doesn't consider those rape," Gatto said.
In California, rape is defined only as a non-consensual "act of sexual intercourse." The FBI definition goes further. It defines rape as "The penetration, no matter how slight, of a person's body... with a body part or an object... without the victim's consent."
So Gatto, along with Assembly members Cristina Garcia and Susan Eggman have a new bill on the table to expand the state's definition of rape. He says including more sexually offensive actions under the umbrella of rape, means prosecutors and judges can punish rape suspects more efficiently. But most importantly, they'll help get justice for the victims.
"They deserve to have justice and they deserve to have the crime properly defined," Gatto said.
Gatto hoped to get the final copy of the proposed bill to the governor's desk by September. Gatto, along with several other lawmakers, have also called for Judge Aaron Persky's resignation.
