Brock Turner to be released after serving half of six month sentence for sexual assault

Brock Turner, the former Stanford University student convicted of sexually assaulting an intoxicated and unconscious woman in 2015, is set to be released from Santa Clara County Jail on Friday (2 September) after only serving half of his six-month sentence.

Earlier reports by The Associated Press said that the former star swimmer would be allowed to leave three months early for good behaviour. Turner was sentenced in June 2016 after being found guilty of three felony counts for sexually assault, Business Insider reported.

The January 2015 campus assault, which occurred behind a garbage bin, was witnessed by two graduate students. The two students caught then-19-year-old Turner and held him down until police arrived.

Judge Aaron Persky sentenced Turner to six months in jail and three years' probation, which was decried as a "slap on the wrist". According to SFGate, District Attorney Jeff Rosen criticised Persky's sentence after it was handed down.

"The punishment does not fit the crime," Rosen said. "The predatory offender has failed to take responsibility, failed to show remorse and failed to tell the truth. The sentence does not factor in the true seriousness of this sexual assault, or the victim's ongoing trauma."

Persky faced intense backlash following the sentencing, leading him to recuse himself from making a decision in another sex case, CNN reported. A campaign to recall Persky was launched by Sanford law professor Michele Dauber, who said the campaign would not stop despite Perksy recusing himself.

According to Business Insider, more than one million people signed petitions requesting the removal of Persky from his position. Earlier in August, he announced he would no longer hear criminal cases.