Former Stanford University swimmer convicted of sexual assault on unconscious woman
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(Reuters) - A former Stanford University swimmer was convicted on Wednesday of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman following a party on the campus of the prestigious California school, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Brock Turner, 20, was arrested in January 2015, after two men riding bikes saw him on top of an unconscious woman lying on the ground, the Times said, citing the police report.
The two men said Turner jumped off the woman and fled when they spotted him, according to the newspaper.
Turner and the woman had attended the same fraternity party that evening and both were intoxicated, according to the report. The victim was found passed out behind a dumpster, it said.
"Drunk means no. Passed out means no," Santa Clara District Attorney Jeff Rosen said, according to the San Jose Mercury News.
Turner had pleaded not guilty to three felony charges of sexual assault. He said the woman, then 22, was conscious throughout their encounter, the Mercury News reported.
The victim testified she woke in the hospital and had dried blood on her hands and elbows.
Turner, a freshman when he was arrested, voluntarily withdrew from school after he was charged. He faces up to 10 years in prison.
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden has called campus sexual assault an epidemic. The White House launched a task force to address the issue in 2014.
(Reporting by Victoria Cavaliere in New York)