One of two Swedish students whose late-night actions led to the arrest and eventual conviction of Stanford rapist Brock Turner spoke with the Swedish publication Expressen today, describing how they came across the attack on January 18, 2015 when it was already in progress and could immediately see that something wasn't right.
“We saw that she was not moving, while he was moving a lot,” Buzzfeed translates Carl-Fredrik Arndt as explaining in Swedish. “So we stopped and thought, ‘This is very strange.' ”
The victim, whose powerful court statement describing the attack and its aftermath has garnered worldwide attention, was reportedly unconscious and partially unclothed behind a dumpster while Turner sexually assaulted her.
“When he got up we saw that she still wasn’t moving at all," explained Arndt, "so we walked up and asked something like, ‘What are you doing?' "
According to the men, Turner took off running and Peter Jonsson gave chase while Arndt checked on the unnamed victim. “She lay perfectly still,” recalled Arndt — worried that she may not breathing.
Jonsson managed to catch Turner after about 30 meters according to Arndt, and both Jonsson and Arndt restrained him until police arrived.
Turner, who was convicted of three felonies — assault with intent to commit rape of an intoxicated/unconscious person, penetration of an intoxicated person, and penetration of an unconscious person — was sentenced to six months in a county jail out of a possible 14-year sentence. With good behavior, he could serve as little as three months.
Jonsson and Arndt have never met the victim, but Arndt told Expressen that he had read her victim statement. "I saw it the other day and it was very strong. Obviously, it is a great joy to be able to help her."
According to a 2015 Washington Post-Kaiser Family Foundation poll, 20 percent of college women say they were sexually assaulted while in college and 25 percent of college women say they "suffered unwanted sexual incidents" while in college.
Meanwhile, Turner's actual, bloodshot-eyed mugshot from the night of the assault is now making the rounds, and Gawker points out that perhaps the editor-in-chief of BuzzFeed, Ben Smith, doesn't need to take such shallow pleasure in the click-worthiness of the rape victim's letter.
And in related news, the drummer in the Ohio-based female trio The Good English recently spoke out in support of Turner, and in response several Brooklyn venues that were set to host the band have canceled their shows, as Gothamist reports.
Previously: Stanford Rapist's Dad Says Jail Not Warranted For '20 Minutes Of Action'; Petition Starts To Recall Lenient Judge
Victim Of Stanford Rape Releases Powerful Letter She Read In Court
Former Stanford Swimmer Sentenced To 6 Months In Campus Rape Of Unconscious Woman
Stanford Freshman Arrested For Raping Woman In Public