Brock Turner Registers As Sex Offender Following Jail Release

Brock Turner has registered as a sex offender in his home state of Ohio, state records now show.

According to the Los Angeles Times the former Stanford University student, who was convicted of sexually assaulting a woman and sentenced to six months in jail, was registered early Tuesday morning.

Turner is required to register as a sex offender for life, and has returned to his family's home following his release from the Santa Clara County Jail this past Friday, after serving half of his sentence.

The way in which Turner's case has played out speaks to the archaic and problematic laws centered around the handling of rape in the United States. Turner was convicted of three felony counts: assault with the intent to commit rape of an unconscious person, sexual penetration of an unconscious person and sexual penetration of an intoxicated person.

At his sentencing the 21-year-old faced up to 14 years in prison, but Superior Court Judge Aaron Persky opted for a lighter jail term of six months and three years of probation, stating that a lengthier penalty would have a "severe impact" on Turner.

Criticism of the leniency of Turner's punishment came to a head after a 12-page letter written (and read in court) by the unidentified victim went viral online.

"The seriousness of rape has to be communicated clearly, we should not create a culture that suggests we learn that rape is wrong through trial and error," she wrote. "The consequences of sexual assault needs to be severe enough that people feel enough fear to exercise good judgment even if they are drunk, severe enough to be preventative."

Fortunately, public outrage over the case has led to some changes in California, where lawmakers have passed legislation to expand the definition of rape and to increase punishment for sex offenders.