Stanford rape judge Aaron Persky put child porn offender in jail for just 4 days

Judge Aaron Persky -- the California judge who became notorious for his leniency in the rape trial of Stanford University swimmer Brock Turner -- has again drawn national attention for his kid gloves handling of a male defendant.

The Guardian reported Wednesday that Persky sentenced 48-year-old Robert James Chain to less than a week in jail in 2015 for possession of images depicting the sexual abuse of minor children.

Chain pleaded guilty in court after officers found dozens of images and videos in his possession featuring abused and exploited children, including a clip showing the rape of an infant. He spent one night behind bars, a much shorter sentence than is typically granted in cases of possession of child pornography.

The Guardian's Sam Levin noted that defendants sentenced on the same charges -- felony possession of child abuse images -- by different judges in the same county as Chain typically received sentences of six months or more.

Persky's critics are trying to have the judge removed from the bench and cite his preferential treatment of privileged male defendants as evidence. He sentenced Turner to only six months in jail saying that a longer sentence could negatively impact the 20-year-old's life prospects.

On the same day as the Turner verdict, Persky allowed a software engineer who violently assaulted his fiancee to serve his sentence in "weekend jail," only having to face incarceration outside of his work week so as not to interfere with his job.

Jurors have revolted, with some refusing to serve in Persky's court. A group of 10 prospective jurors told the judge in June that they would not serve in trials he presided over in protest of the Turner verdict.

“I can’t believe what you did,” said one Santa Clara County resident before leaving the courtroom.

Less than a week later, prosecutors removed Persky from the trial of a male nurse accused of sexually assaulting an anesthetized female patient.

“We lack confidence that Judge (Aaron) Persky can fairly participate in this upcoming hearing in which a male nurse sexually assaulted an anesthetized female patient,” said Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen.

Stacey Capps -- chief trial deputy for the District Attorney’s office -- told Reuters news that the case was assigned to another judge. The plaintiff in the case, she said, was "particularly vulnerable," which prompted the change.

Defendant Chain is a married father of two who lives in Sunnyvale, a town southeast of Stanford. He was arrested in May, 2014, one of the suspects swept up by a group known as the Silicon Valley Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

Chain's wife said she was unaware that her husband perused "underage images." Arresting officers charged him for possessing erotic images “knowing that the matter depicts a person under the age of 18 years personally engaging in or personally simulating sexual conduct.”

The charge carries a maximum 3-year sentence, but Chain worked out a plea deal with the court in which he pled guilty and received a sentence that involved registering as a sex offender, spending 3 years on probation and a scant four days in jail. Because Chain had already spent a night behind bars, he was never forced to return to confinement.

Chain's attorney requested the charge be reduced to a misdemeanor, which Persky said he would consider upon Chain's successful completion of his first year of probation.

Prosecutors are challenging Persky's decisions. Members of the campaign to unseat the judge say their research shows that 14 other defendants swept up in the same series of arrests who pled guilty or no contest served an average of six months behind bars. Chain's sentence was by far the most lenient.

Researchers had to rely on media accounts of the sentences because court records are currently sealed.

Stanford law professor Michele Landis Dauber is one of the leaders of the campaign against Persky. She is a family friend of the victim of the Turner case.

“It’s pretty clear from our perspective, we have a judge who is not taking the harms of sexual violence and sexual crimes seriously enough," she told the Guardian.