The Latest: Debate ignited after judge bows out of sex case

PALO ALTO, Calif. – The Latest on the California judge who sentenced a former Stanford University swimmer to six months in jail (all times local):

2:40 p.m.

Debate over whether the California judge who sentenced a former Stanford University swimmer convicted of sexual assault to a short jail sentence should remain on the bench reignited Tuesday after he removed himself from an unrelated sex-crime case he was handling.

Santa Clara County Judge Aaron Persky formally removed himself on Monday from deciding whether to reduce a San Jose plumber’s child porn possession case from a felony to a misdemeanour after The Associated Press reported on the case earlier this month.

Persky said last year that he was “receptive” to reducing the conviction to a misdemeanour if the plumber stayed sober and out of trouble for a year. On Monday, he said his impartiality could be questioned.

Another judge will make that decision in October.

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1 a.m.

A California judge under fire for a light sentence given to a Stanford University swimmer has recused himself from making his first key decision in another sex crimes case.

Santa Clara County Judge Aaron Persky filed a statement with the court saying that some people might doubt his impartiality, The Mercury News reported Monday (http://bayareane.ws/2c0GQtu).

The judge is the target of a recall campaign that started in June after he sentenced former Stanford swimmer Brock Turner, 20, to six months in jail for sexually assaulting an intoxicated woman who passed out behind a trash bin after a fraternity party.

Persky was scheduled this week to consider a request from Robert Chain to reduce his conviction for possessing child pornography from a felony to a misdemeanour. The judge said last year he would be receptive to the idea if the plumber stayed sober.