Brock Turner isn’t a member of USA Swimming, and he wouldn’t be eligible to become one if he tried, spokesman Scott Leightman told USA TODAY Sports on Monday.
The former Stanford swimmer has been in the news recently after being sentenced to six months in jail for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman in January 2015.
When asked about Turner’s future with USA Swimming, Leightman said this in an email to USA TODAY Sports:
“Brock Turner’s membership with USA Swimming expired at the end of the calendar year 2014. He was not a member at the time of his crime or since then. USA Swimming doesn’t have any jurisdiction over non-members.
“Brock Turner is not a member of USA Swimming and, should he apply, he would not be eligible for membership.  … Had he been a member, he would be subject to the USA Swimming Code of Conduct. USA Swimming strictly prohibits and has zero tolerance for sexual misconduct, with firm Code of Conduct policies in place, and severe penalties, including a permanent ban of membership, for those who violate our Code of Conduct.”
The case has been all over the news since last Thursday, when Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Aaron Persky sentenced Turner to six months in prison because, “A prison sentence would have a severe impact on him. I think he will not be a danger to others.”
The victim wrote a powerful letter to Turner, which she read at his sentencing. You can read the letter at BuzzFeed or watch CNN’s Ashleigh Banfield read it aloud in the video below.
The furor over the sentencing intensified after Turner’s father, Dan A. Turner, wrote a letter asking for no jail time for his son. You can read part of the letter in the tweet below.
Thumbnail photo via Jeremy Brevard/USA TODAY Sports Images
