Stanford put on defensive over efforts to deter sex assault

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Stanford University officials say policies to prevent and respond to sexual assault worked as well as expected after bystanders spotted a member of the swimming team sexually assaulting an unconscious woman near a garbage bin.

Two graduate students passing by on bicycles interrupted the attack, chased down a freshman and held him until campus police arrived. Brock Turner was arrested and agreed to leave Stanford and never return rather than be expelled.

But with outrage brewing over a six-month jail sentence the one-time Olympic hopeful received last week, Stanford unexpectedly has found itself defending its sexual assault prevention efforts and arguing that the case should be cited as evidence of their success, not failure.

"Stanford University did everything within its power to assure that justice was served in this case," the university said in a statement, citing a swift police investigation and referral to prosecutors, who got a conviction on felony assault and attempted rape charges.

A judge who attended Stanford and played lacrosse there as an undergraduate sentenced the 20-year-old Turner of Dayton, Ohio, to the jail stint, three years' probation and ordered him to register as a sex offender.

Like other U.S. colleges and universities, Stanford has been under renewed pressure from federal education officials, state lawmakers and students to improve the way sexual assault victims are treated and to ensure perpetrators face serious and consistent consequences.